Draught-proofing

Is your house draughty and cold? Is it expensive to heat?

Transition Town Reading’s DraughtBusters project may be able to help! The materials could even be paid for by a grant from Reading Borough Council if you meet certain conditions. The work should only take a couple of hours. If you know of people who need our help please contact Tony Cowling or contact Summreen at Reading Borough Council on (0118) 937 2100.

You can also visit the DraughtBusters website www.draughtbusters.net for more information or keep reading!

If you would like to help people with draught proofing their homes then see information for volunteering below.

See TTR’s draught-proofing in action on BBC South Today!

Volunteering

There is a team of volunteers lead by Tony Cowling currently going out draught busting in Reading. The team visit people’s homes and perform minor repairs and alterations to stop draughts and heat loss. Often this is simple things like blocking up gaps around doors, windows and floorboards.

We are looking for more volunteers, if you would like to help then contact us via the DraughtBusters website.  Some expenses can be reimbursed (with receipts) and Tony or another experienced draught buster will be present at every visit.

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Further Information

The idea behind the project is to enable some of the most needy in our town and who are in the worst energy poverty to live in draught-free homes. Draught-proofing is by far the most cost effective thing to do in terms of saving energy and costs, yet virtually no funding is available for it.

The materials can be paid for by the grant if you are in fuel poverty and the labour is provided by volunteers. We also encourage you to get involved in draught busting your own home so you can pass on the knowledge and skills.

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We have a group of volunteers to help with the draught-proofing and the team have completed over 35 projects during the 2012-13 winter season and the activity is continuing. See above for more information on how to get involved with volunteering.

It is hoped that the project will be taken up by the general community and as a home is improved some of the beneficiaries will be invited to assist on the next couple of projects, expanding the skills base and driving forward a community-based self-help programme. The idea is that the project will be self-propelling and community-driven. As the necessary materials are fairly cheap progress can be made in the general community where people can afford the materials but haven’t carried out draught-proofing for lack of motivation.

To find out more, contact DraughtBusters

Thank you to Reading Borough Council who kindly provided a grant to fund materials for a draught-proofing project.

Supported by:

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One response to “Draught-proofing”

  1. Hello everyone, I am leading the Reading DraughtBusters project, which has been running successfully for the past 8 years or so. We even managed to sort out some of the more urgent cases during the Covid lockdown period. Perhaps more exciting still, is that we now are helping to set up new draughtbusting groups in the wider region, two of which are now fully operational, with another half a dozen being created, including one on the Isle of Wight!

    We have had one recent enquiry about setting up another group in Reading, but with soaring energy prices, I suspect that from September onwards, calls for our services will go ballistic. We are therefore looking to set up groups across the town in an effort to meet the expected demand.

    Would you like to be involved with actual hands-on DraughtBusting, or with coordination, organising or communications activities?

    If so, please get in touch, as your assistance would be greatly appreciated. https://transitiontownreading.wordpress.com/projects/draught-proofing/

    The time commitment is likely to be less than half a day a week, although a few additional meetings might be necessary during the set-up phase.

    Tony Cowling

    Like

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