Calls have been made for the Trustees of The Footprint Trust to stand down after rejecting £900,000 of funding from the Government that could have helped thousands of Islanders this Winter. Back in August, Island Echo reported that Newport-based charity The Footprint Trust had secured almost £1million of Government funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, in conjunction with the South West Net Zero Hub. This money was to explore cutting-edge approaches to delivering in-person, home energy advice to householders on the Isle of Wight and in the Southampton region. Work to secure this funding began back in March and was contractually agreed at the beginning of October. However, it has now emerged that just 2 weeks after the contract was signed, the Trustees of The Footprint Trust declined the funding – seemingly without any consultation with other bid partners including Southampton-based Testlands, who were to receive around 1/3 of the funding. It’s thought that around 9,000 Islanders would have been positively affected by this golden funding overall, with many Island businesses also set to benefit from work carried out under the project. The decision to reject the funding potentially leaves the most vulnerable Island residents cold and face falling into fuel poverty and debt. It’s been revealed that Norman Arnold, the charity’s Managing Director, has now stepped down over the decision made by the Trustees, as has Lisa Beaney, the Finance and Operations Manager. 
“With the state of the economy, the Island has to work very hard to get grants and was fortunate to receive this massive £900,000 in support. For a group of Trustees to then simply decide they now don’t want it, fails the people it is meant to help, puts a strain on local companies left footing the bill and makes staff very concerned about their future. “What happens the next time the Island applies for a grant of such magnitude? Will we be taken seriously? The Island needed this, why throw it away!”
According to the Charity Commission, The Footprint Trust Ltd. made £217,000 in the last financial year – a new record amount – with an expenditure of just £155,000. The Trustees are listed as Anne Wray, Richard Quigley, Donald Roe, Susan Painting, Mark Earp, Paul Fuller JP and Colin Withers. Local Councillors have been made aware of the situation and it is understood discussions are underway in a bid to rescue the funding, but the situation is said to be challenging…
And we all thought the council were corrupt, this lot are even more corrupt than county hall, which seems impossible. Disgusting way to run a trust that is supposed to be helping the poor, I hope just because they are jumping ship they won’t get away with this ridiculous outcome. Time for an investigation, a proper one and not a piss poor cover up.
Look at the trustee names- Councilors
Giving advice on saving energy , does not help the poor . When they all ready have smart meters fitted.
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“This money was to explore cutting-edge approaches to delivering in-person, home energy advice”
What is ‘cutting edge’ about visiting someone at home to give them cost saving advice?
The mind boggles. Cutting edge? Surely not a zoom call? Ha ha ha.
A so-called “Smat Meter” won’t help you save energy unless you are able to make choices. For many people, there is no choice except freeze or starve.
Giving advice isn’t as simple as it sounds, especially where people’s homes vary in age and condition, and the victims themselves may have any of several vulnerabilities. The “cutting edge” bit comes in in finding the people who most need help and working out what is the best advice for their circumstances.
I suspect that the money on offer had plenty of strings attached (eg had to be spent within a short time frame, had to be directed towards a specific sector or others that government attaches to meet their own political aims).
If the Charity Commissioners determine that any of the grant money was used for purposes outside of the contract, the trustees would be personally responsible for repaying it.
So you defend criminals then. Smart meters don’t save money. They are for information, if you have no money to pay for gas, electricity, you have no money, smart meter or not. Doh!
The trustees & all the board should resign .
You dear old fashioned thing. Don’t you know, nobody ever resigns these days.
Dodgy bxxtxxds.Just like the rest of the island business .Hope the insider’s of the council get found out to..
Paul Fuller is a local councilor, aren’t councilors meant to be helping Islanders ?
Councillor you mention sits on so many councils/committees/boards that it’s no great surprise if he drops the board now and then. Look at his Register of Interests, truly ridiculous He also sits on the IOW Against Scams Partnership. Couldn’t make it up.
They must have panicked when it looked like they would have to do something substantial because they usually spend very little and only provide advice. They state that: “We work in schools and attend public events to promote sustainable living and a greater understanding of the environment.” It seems that they just attend events and advise about reducing energy consumption and improving home insulation. They have six staff who attend events and also provide advice over the phone. They only provide information that is readily available on the Internet. They do not hand out money to people to help with bills so this will not affect people who are freezing in their homes.
“they usually spend very little and only provide advice”: you can’t spend what you’ve not got, and FT is not publicly funded. Part of the advice offered is to assist in finding reliable local contractors to carry out the measures recommended; the other part is to identify sources of financial help, something many older/vulnerable people find baffling, and then help in making successful application. So no, they don’t hand out money, they help a client tap into money already available, which otherwise government would claw back saying it apparently wasn’t needed.
They spend very little of what they have got (accounts show plenty of cash in the bank) and obviously had no way of spending £900k they were awarded. Maybe they should have thought it through before applying and wasting time and money. A more deserving charity could have been awarded that money to do some good.
The decision to reject the funding potentially leaves the most vulnerable Island residents cold and face falling into fuel poverty and debt.
pack of lies – each bill payer in the house, can contact their supplier if they are having issues paying and a large portion of people sponging on benefits already get more coming in than taxpayers, earning just above minimum wage.
unless the trust was actually going to pay the householders bills, then it is all talk.
They just give a leaflet out explaining to cover up the draughts in your home, it’s hardly help
Much of what happens on the Island is down to self elected groups using public money and co-opting the local “good and great” just to keep in with the right people. It’s more of the problem than the IOW Council, at least we can vote them out if we want to. These organisations are not answerable to the public and if the trustees don’t do their job then honour, if nothing else (strange, old fashioned concept – best look it up) demands that they resign. Don’t hold your breath.