Heat Safe Homes Project with Oxfordshire County Council

The HEARTH team is working with Oxfordshire County Council on the Heat Safe Project, which aims to develop and distribute Cool Packs to vulnerable households and provide training for professionals delivering the packs during summer 2026. The programme will be accompanied by an evaluation of its implementation and impacts. 

Heat Safe Homes Cool Pack Workshop (17 June 2026) co-chaired by Anna Mavrogianni and Rajat Gupta brought together 28 cross-sector participants to co-design cooling interventions for heat-vulnerable households.

Discussions explored climate adaptation, local authority pilots, and practical cooling solutions.

City of Westminster Council Cool Pack (development of OCC Cool Pack in progress)

Key points of the Cool Pack workshop:

• Community-led delivery: Reaching vulnerable households is challenging; distribution relies entirely on trusted community partners, "green doctors", and volunteer networks rather than direct council channels.

• Procurement and logistics: Scaling requires mass procurement to reduce costs and pre-planning distribution. Bulk storage barriers can be resolved by partnering with trade warehouses like Travis Perkins.

• Item impact and suitability: Thermometers are the most critical item for empowering resident autonomy. Conversely, temporary blinds received mixed reviews, and fans triggered unwarranted running-cost anxieties.

• Planning-friendly shaded solutions: Innovative, non-fixed designs (like the Shaded awning system) navigate strict heritage and conservation zone constraints without needing formal planning permission.