A Little Change
Spread a little love every month by donating to A Little Change through your Octopus Energy bills.
Our customers ask us on an almost daily basis how they can support people who are struggling with their energy costs. That’s why at the beginning of the energy crisis we set up the A Little Change tool. Simply select how much you’d like to donate each month and we’ll take it off your bill. You can opt out in one click too!
It’s a simple way to make a positive impact on every bill.
Your donation will be split between National Energy Action, who work to combat fuel poverty in the UK; Citizens Advice, who offer free, impartial advice on everything from consumer rights to debt, energy and housing; and Renewable World, who improve access to clean energy in communities in Kenya and Nepal.
Over the past year we’ve donated over £350,000, split between National Energy Action, Citizens Advice, and Renewable World. This brings the total of customer donations since A Little Change began to well over half a million pounds.
Charities we donate to on your behalf
NEA - Action for warmer homes
Registered Charity Number: 290511
We should all be able to keep warm and healthy at home, but millions of people are struggling to afford the energy they need to do so. Each year around 10,000 people die as a result of living in a cold home. Cold homes can also cause or worsen a range of serious health conditions such as heart attacks, strokes, bronchitis, and asthma; can have a significant impact on mental health and is a known risk factor for suicide. National Energy Action (NEA) works towards eradicating fuel poverty across the UK and enables millions of people to live in a warm home.
These donations have an incredible impact on the work we deliver at NEA and the people we support. It means more people struggling in cold, unsafe and unhealthy homes are able to live without the worry of how they will afford to stay warm at home.
The funds also enable us to respond to crisis situations, so we can provide people with immediate and practical support through hardship funds.
Through the generous donations we receive we have been able to:
- Provide life-changing advice and information to thousands of vulnerable people
- Secured millions in financial benefits to clients through income maximisation and welfare support
- Educated thousands of school children on energy efficiency
- Given millions of direct financial benefit to clients secured through energy advice, crisis fund and fuel debt support.
- Trained thousands of professionals and advisers
Citizens Advice
Registered Charity Number: 279057
Citizens Advice offers free, confidential and impartial advice on everything from consumer rights to debt, energy and housing. They help millions of people every year - online, over the phone and face-to-face - and believe that nobody should have to face their problems without good quality, independent advice. They give people the knowledge and confidence they need to find a way forward - whoever they are, and whatever their problem.
Citizens Advice uses Octopus customer donations to support their national response to the cost-of-living crisis. This includes:
- supporting Adviceline, their nationally-supported helpline service; often the first point-of-contact for someone facing unthinkable hardship
- contributing to caseworker support, for people who need more in-depth help
- developing and updating their online advice content for people who can help themselves
Nigel's story
*Nigel, 54, had to stop working earlier this year due to serious back problems. He initially received lower benefit payments than he should have, pushing him into rent arrears. When Nigel came to Citizens Advice, he was struggling to afford the basics, like energy and food, and worried that he could lose his home.
“I was nearly in tears when I first spoke with Citizens Advice. But they’ve been over-the-top supportive. I would have crumbled without them”
Citizens Advice provided Nigel with food and fuel vouchers and is helping him apply for the benefits he’s entitled to while he can’t work. He’s still anxious about the cost of living, but is reassured by the support he’s received from his local Citizens Advice.
“Without the fuel vouchers, I would have been sitting in darkness, with no hot water. That kind of support is massive when you have nothing.”
*identifying details changed to protect privacy
Every single Octopus customer donation can contribute to life-changing advice that makes a real difference to the lives of people and families in our communities.
Renewable World
Registered charity Number: 1119467
Renewable World helps people in poverty build sustainable livelihoods and reduce the effects of climate change. They work with communities and organisations to improve access to clean energy by developing and expanding practical solutions. Their goal is to support over half a million people in creating better lives and addressing climate change by 2030.
We’ve previously invested in Renewable World to bring clean cooking stoves to families in Rwanda and Somalia, and restore boreholes in parts of Rwanda to reduce carbon emissions and dramatically improve the lives of people in the area.
Now, with your help, we are directly supporting a genuinely impactful renewable energy project in Kenya: Clean Energy for Health.
Your donation will go toward providing remote health centres with solar energy, and building 4 off-grid health posts in Kenya. These will improve health equipment, water filtration systems, handwashing stations, and toilet facilities, and have the potential to help over 29,000 people across Kenya to access better operated and maintained health centres.
Njukini's story
Serving 7,800 people, Njukini is one of seven facilities transformed by E4H2. It seeks to provide antenatal, maternity, family planning, outpatient, immunisation, and nutrition services to its catchment communities.
Before the E4H2 project, Njukini experienced insufficient reliable power to run both lighting and medical equipment, meaning it could only run during the day, and had limited ability to correctly store medicines and vaccines.
This has now changed. Njukini is now fully electrified through a clean, solar energy system, meaning it can cold-store vaccines and run full immunisation services for the local communities. And, with a reliable round-the-clock supply of electricity, emergency services are now available at night.
A clean energy-powered baby warmer at the Njukini health facility. Before RW's intervention, this baby warmer was not operational. It is now a key component of the safe and reliable neo-natal care offered at Njukini.
Our partnership with Octopus Energy (OE) has been an important enabler of Renewable World’s growth and impact. It has helped us to test what works, to develop our expertise, and to significantly advance our programming.
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