Green Doctor is a national programme developed by the environmental and community charity Groundwork, to provide advice to vulnerable households on saving energy and greener living.  Energy advisers known as Green Doctors offer home visits and advice on using energy to show people how to make their homes more environmentally friendly and cheaper to run.  The Green Doctor scheme is particularly relevant to housing associations tackling financial exclusion and supporting residents to tackle fuel poverty.

In Birmingham, Green Doctor is delivered to homes through a partnership which brings together Be Birmingham, Birmingham’s Environmental Partnership, Birmingham City Council, Groundwork West Midlands, Moseley Community Development Trust and Family Housing Association, which bring different skills, knowledge and experience to the scheme.  Family Housing Association is the lead partner for this scheme.

Don’t try and do it alone. Identify key partners and the strengths they can bring to the project, such as specialist eco-knowledge, awareness of funding sources, ability to calculate savings and access to potential beneficiaries.

Money talks. The main focus of the project does not have to be on the environmental gains – the idea of reducing bills changes peoples’ behaviour. By highlighting potential financial savings and reducing fuel poverty alongside the green theme you will gain more interest from households.

Know your community. Understand the profile of the people you are targeting, the geographical areas, and have an awareness of other local projects. Develop links into existing agencies, such as community and faith groups, doctors’ surgeries and schools, to build awareness and trust.

Happy shoppers. By ensuring customers are satisfied with the service provide you will get future referrals off the back of them becoming ‘eco ambassadors’ and spreading the word about the scheme amongst the community.

Signpost other schemes. Help customers by pointing them towards other schemes with similar eco and financial benefits. We have linked with Birmingham City Council to encourage people to recycle by ordering customers recycling boxes if they have misplaced theirs, and explaining how to use them.

Stand out from the crowd. People are bombarded with information - why are they going to want to get involved in your scheme?  This can involve incentives – we ran a quarterly prize draw to win an energy-efficient fridge freezer or washing machine.

Family Housing Association delivers a wide range of community investment / regeneration activities to improve the quality of life of residents living in deprived areas. This includes being the lead delivery agency on the multi-award winning Summerfield Eco Village partnership. For more information visit www.family-housing.co.uk

Groundwork has vast experience in this work and is currently delivering Green Doctor programmes in Leicester, Leeds, Thames Valley, London, and South Wales as well as in the West Midlands. Groundwork aims to replicate the programme in other locations in partnership with housing providers, local authorities and other local partners. For more information visit www.groundwork.org.uk

Claire Hardwick is head of community investment at Family Housing Association.

Phil Beardmore is climate change development manager at Groundwork West Midlands.