It is an excellent idea to have retired volunteers go out to talk to elderly people about their heating, offering advice on how to save money and stay warm. They are more likely to feel at ease with people of their own generation who they know do not stand to make any profit out of them.

It is never easy to attract volunteers, and the pioneering scheme being run jointly by Bradford Energy Conservation Group and Age Concern nearly failed to get off the ground because not enough retired people came forward for the training to turn them into "energy ambassadors".

Fortunately, those behind the scheme persevered and now a ten-strong task force is about to embark on its mammoth task: visiting 1,500 homes in Bradford over the next year. The volunteers have an important job to do. Every year hypothermia claims elderly victims. Often they fail to heat their homes adequately because they are afraid of running up bills they might not be able to afford to pay.

However, the Bradford Energy Conservation Group estimates that with the help of the advisers pensioners could save between 20 and 30 per cent off their electricity bills. They will also be told of any grants that might be on offer to help them improve the insulation of their homes.

The ten volunteers have shown commendable public spirit by coming out of their own retirements to take on such a much-needed job. With their help, many other elderly people in Bradford should be able to face the winter in a less anxious frame of mind

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.