A project essential to keeping some of Blackburn with Darwen’s most vulnerable households safe and warm has secured £200,000 to operate for three years.

Care Network will now be able to help people who otherwise could not afford servicing, repairs, or replacement of their home heating systems.

The Healthy Homes scheme will also target damp, mould, and condensation, which – if allowed to take hold – could have serious health issues for residents.

Cadent Foundation, which is funded by local gas distribution network Cadent, has confirmed an award of £200,000 to Blackburn with Darwen’s Care Network.

This will cover the cost of this new element of healthy homes for three years and realises a long-held ambition for the team based in Town Hall Street, Blackburn.

James Hadleigh, Care Network’s chief executive officer, said: “We now have a pot of discretionary funding to support residents with, when they need improvements to their house to keep it warm, safe, and watertight.

“It is something we have had an aspiration to achieve for a long time now – to be able to contribute towards paying for improvements, where before we could only make recommendations. In some cases, it may only be a small intervention, but it will make a dramatic difference to people’s lives here in Blackburn with Darwen.

“Everyone we support is vulnerable, in some way. This will enable them to stay in their home for longer, and in a home where they are safe, warm, and happy.”

Julia Dwyer, director of Cadent Foundation, said: “We work with lots of charities across the country and what is plain to see is that the cost-of-living crisis has plunged many more people into fuel poverty.

“We have focussed our attention on tackling the route causes. Care Network’s Healthy Homes project will keep people in safe, warm, watertight homes, free from mould, damp, and condensation.”

The maximum award per house will be capped at £500, with discretion to increase that in some circumstances.

Beneficiaries of this scheme will be people referred to Care Network through its partner agencies only – such as local authority teams and health services providers.