This post has been written by Mandy Wright, Partnerships Officer at Home Energy Scotland.
When it comes to tackling the climate crisis and supporting communities through cost-of-living challenges, there’s one thing that makes all the difference: collaboration. And the partnership between the Ayrshire Climate Hub and Home Energy Scotland is a shining example of what can happen when organisations come together with a shared purpose.
Home Energy Scotland partnership officer Mandy Wright caught up with Siobhan McDonald, Partnership Officer, and Calum Steele, Operations Officer/Hub Manager, at the Ayrshire Climate Hub to hear more about how this partnership came to life — and how it’s grown into something that’s making a real difference across Ayrshire.
The partnership began through the Energy Agency, which delivers the Home Energy Scotland service in the south west. As the lead partner for the Ayrshire Climate Hub, the Energy Agency saw a natural opportunity to bring Home Energy Scotland into the fold, and it’s been a strong collaboration ever since.
What has really helped the collaboration? The fact that both teams are based in the same building means regular chats, quick catch-ups, and plenty of opportunities to share ideas. Their close physical proximity — along with long-standing professional relationships from previous projects — has opened communication and made collaboration easy and effective.
Over the past couple of years, the partnership has taken shape through joint events, community forums, and roadshows across Ayrshire — from Stewarton to Dalmellington, Cumnock to Kilmarnock.
At these events, Home Energy Scotland sets up informative stalls packed with energy-saving tips and resources for customers, such as water-saving devices and carbon monoxide monitors (thanks to partnerships with Scottish Water and Energy Action Scotland). Meanwhile, the Climate Hub uses the opportunity to raise awareness of its work and connect with local groups.
The collaboration doesn’t stop at in-person events. The Climate Hub also runs a bi-monthly online forum for community groups, where Home Energy Scotland is regularly invited to answer energy-related questions. These sessions have featured guest speakers from across the sector — including Home Energy Scotland’s own renewables specialists — and offer a great platform for peer learning and networking.
There’s also a strong focus on skills-sharing. The Climate Hub offers carbon literacy training, which Home Energy Scotland staff are invited to attend. In return, Home Energy Scotland shares its own knowledge, resources, and opportunities with the Climate Hub and its partners.
At the heart of this partnership is a shared mission: to support communities, reduce energy bills, and build climate resilience. Whether it’s through referrals, joint outreach, or simply being present at the same events, the collaboration is helping both organisations reach further and do more.
And the impact? Stronger community connections, better access to support, and a growing network of delivery partners all working together to meet local needs.
As the partnership continues to grow, it’s clear that the real magic lies in the relationships being built — not just between organisations, but with the communities they serve. As the Climate Hub manager Calum Steele puts it:
“‘Climate’ is a big umbrella with many subtopics – the Ayrshire Climate Hub is extremely grateful to have such a strong working relationship with Home Energy Scotland, who are experts in all things energy.”
To conclude, the Home Energy Scotland South West team shares their thoughts on why partnership work with community groups matters:
“The relationships that our advice centre nurtures and builds with community groups are invaluable. Every community has its own needs and considerations, priorities and challenges; in the south west, we have customers and communities spread across urban, rural and island populations, with many households in off-grid areas.
As an energy advice service, we are trying to support as many people as we can, and this means using a great variety of communication and access channels. Community groups offer an established and direct way to connect with people and to authenticate who we are by working in partnership to build trust. To quell concerns around scams (we never cold call, we never charge for our services) and to help us help people in the way that they want and need.
It’s also important to stress the ‘local-ness’ of our work and our advice centre; our team live and work in south west Scotland, so they know the idiosyncrasies of our towns, villages and islands. And they know and understand the people who live here, as they are part of the same communities.
Working with lots of community groups doesn’t mean we use a blanket approach. When we first make contact, we will ask lots of questions to understand more about a group’s aims and ambitions and the work that they do. The answers provide valuable insight on the community’s members and help us establish how we can shape our service delivery to best serve them.
We’re proud to work with all sorts of groups; food larders and pantries, football communities and men’s sheds, green growers and eco encouragers, island innovators and climate champions. The list is long, but the work is very rewarding and we’re proud to be a part of each group’s journey.”
If your group or organisation is interested in working with Home Energy Scotland, explore their collaboration opportunities, or check out how they support local action. To start a conversation about working in partnership, get in touch directly.