Nettlebed

Online Version Oxfordshire County Council have implemented a new online service called ‘Winter Warmth’ to help vulnerable residents receive support and access funding for home repairs. The aim is to improve the home environment which will additionally support physical and emotional wellbeing for residents across the county. The easy to use service signposts property owners or private tenants to a website where a postcode is entered to find the most appropriate organization. The services and funds available include grants, loans and energy company schemes that provide home repairs, so residents can stay safe, secure, independent and warm. The funding can be used to fit or fix a new boiler and install loft and cavity wall insulation to keep people affordably warm. There is also general advice available on how to stay safe and well, and home repairs are also available for people with disabilities. In its first month, the website has received over 50 e-mails which have been sent directly to the services who...

Oxfordshire County Council is to launch a new trial service to residents with a way to ensure their unwanted small electrical items can be repaired and reused, reducing what the county would otherwise send to waste. There are already many ways to recycle small electrical items that are beyond repair either at the kerbside or a recycling centre. Funded by Valpak, the council is trialling drop off points for unwanted small electrical items that are still in good condition at a number of participating Oxfordshire libraries. The trial will run at Banbury, Bicester, Kidlington, Witney, Carterton, Oxfordshire County Library, Headington, Cowley, Littlemore & Blackbird Leys libraries. Once goods have been dropped off, the items will be collected by Bicester Green or Orinoco – two local charities who help reuse and recycle waste – where they will be tested. Minor repairs will be made by volunteers and the items will then be sold on to benefit the charities. The drop off point is for small...