Shropshire photo project to highlight effect of fuel poverty

A photography and video project will use people’s experiences of fuel poverty in Shropshire to raise awareness of the issue and tackle the stigma surrounding it.

Keeping Warm: A Photo Project About Fuel Poverty, will be showcased at public exhibitions at The Hive in Shrewsbury and Aston University in Birmingham.

Photos and videos taken by participants will be anonymised and hope to show the effect of fuel poverty on people’s health, wellbeing, and dignity.

“Everyone assumes that if you’re poor or if you’re in that situation it’s because of bad choices and bad decisions – and that’s just not true,” said Jackie Jeffrey from Citizens Advice Shropshire.

“If people are interested in telling their story of how fuel poverty, of how being cold really affects them, we can use that to help other people understand what it’s like.

“It means that when we talk to policy makers and meet people who make decisions about how we support people in fuel poverty… their voice is really heard,” she added.

People who are interested in taking part will be given a digital camera to capture the content, or they can use their own devices.

They will attend a group session at The Hive, supported by project staff from Citizens Advice Shropshire and academic lead Dr Alexis Paton from Aston University.

Alongside the exhibition will be clear information for people if they are struggling to pay their energy bills.

“It was really tying to think of a creative and innovative way to really try to highlight what this issue is and challenge a lot of those preconceptions,” said Catherine Devayney from Citizens Advice.

“There really isn’t a portrait person for how this issue affects a household.

“Having this medium is a way for us to creatively demonstrate what the actual experience is like.”

The project is looking for 10 to 20 participants who are aged 18 or over, currently living in Shropshire and who feel they are experiencing fuel poverty.