Green Doctor
Groundwork’s Green Doctors help UK residents stay warm, stay well, and save money on household bills.
Our team of friendly Green Doctors are energy efficiency experts offering free, impartial advice to help people take control of their bills and save energy in the home.
We can provide different kinds of support, whether that’s advice on paying off debt with energy or water companies, or spotting other concerns for a referral to other services. Some of the reasons people ask us for help are:
- they’re struggling to pay energy bills or finding it hard to manage fuel debt
- they’re worrying about keeping warm or choosing between eating and heating
- their home is cold, damp or draughty
- they have respiratory problems such as asthma or a persistent cough
15,000
Green Doctor visits last year
£2.45m
potential domestic utility bill savings
53,100
people supported to reduce domestic energy, water and waste
5,400 tonnes
potential domestic carbon savings
Case study: John
John is a talented photographer, but his health and out of control energy bills were making it impossible to remain positive and creative. Like millions of other UK residents, he found that his electricity and gas bills were a constant worry.
With the support of a Groundwork Green Doctor he now has his bills and life back on track.
Support our work
In recent years what Green Doctors have seen – and what they can do to help – has changed. They encounter many more working families who are not eligible for other support and are just getting by. They meet people only heating one room, not using their heating at all, only eating cold food or skipping meals altogether. Some people are resorting to unsafe electrical appliances while incidences of life-threatening damp and mould are on the rise. Despite the growth of our Green Doctor service, we can’t meet demand. As a charity, our costs are also rising. To continue helping people in hardship we need to work with more partners.
For more information, email us at greendoctor@groundwork.org.uk