Cost of living / fuel poverty and safeguarding
General information
Portsmouth City Council’s cost of living hub and helpline provide up-to-date information on cost of living support for people in the city. Visit www.portsmouth.gov.uk/costoflivinghub or call 023 9284 1047.
This Connect to Support Page provides links to information and support around financial issues, including debt and budgeting, help with food, and keeping your home warm.
Age UK guide to living well this winter.
Action for Warm Homes website includes help and advice as well as a range of leaflets in different languages.
Switched on Portsmouth
The Switched on Portsmouth website provides information about energy and money saving initiatives including free home energy visits.
Hampshire and IOW Fire and Rescue Service Information
Hampshire and IOW Fire and Rescue service has created a ‘5Cs cost of living campaign’. Their website includes information about Safe and Well home fire safety visits, online fire safety checks, and how to keep your family safe over the winter.
Resources for professionals are available here: Leaflet and Z card
Fraud and Scams
You might be contacted with misleading or fraudulent offers designed to con you out of your money. These are received by post, email, social media messages, telephone, text or face-to-face. Advice is available about how to spot scams and frauds, to prevent yourself or someone you know becoming the victim of a scam or fraud and losing your money.
Action Fraud is the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime. You can report this directly to Action Fraud either online or by telephone. Information and support is available on the Action Fraud website.
Hampshire Constabulary receives over 700 reports of fraud or attempted fraud each month. Many of these target elderly or vulnerable members of the community and the consequences can be extremely damaging, both financially and emotionally, for the victims. A number of useful guides, in particular for those vulnerable members of our communities, can be accessed on the Hampshire Constabulary website.
“Friends Against Scams” is a National Trading Standards Scams Team initiative which aims to protect and prevent people from becoming victims of scams by empowering them to take a stand against scams. “Friends Against Scams” is designed to inspire action, highlight the scale of the problem, change the perceptions of why people fall for scams and make scams a community, regional and national topic. It has a page dedicated to updating you on the latest scams. Visit the Friends Against Scams website where you can sign up to scam alerts.