What We Do
Our Programmes
Four connected services, one joined-up approach. All free. All delivered face-to-face in Hamilton.
Four connected services, one joined-up approach. All free. All delivered face-to-face in Hamilton.
Every programme is free of charge and available to any household in Hamilton or South Lanarkshire on a low income or facing financial hardship. No referral needed.
Our flagship home energy programme connects fuel-poor households with every source of heating improvement and bill support available to them.
Warm & Well Hamilton advisers carry out in-home energy assessments, identify eligibility for Warmer Homes Scotland, the Energy Company Obligation, and utility hardship funds, and support households through the full application process. We also negotiate directly with energy suppliers on behalf of clients who have built up debt, and we refer to local tradespeople for draught-proofing and small repairs that fall below grant thresholds. Since the programme launched we have helped secure boiler replacements, loft insulation, and heating controls for hundreds of Hamilton households.
A free, thorough, and jargon-free benefits check and claim support service for any Hamilton household on a low income.
Our advisers are trained in the full range of UK and Scottish welfare entitlements and stay current with every policy change — from Scottish Child Payment uplifts to changes in Universal Credit taper rates. We sit with clients to complete the forms, gather the evidence, and submit the claims, and we provide representation at mandatory reconsiderations when initial decisions go against them. The average household we work with gains over £1,500 per year in previously unclaimed entitlements, with some complex cases recovering far more.
Bridging the gap between financial hardship and health outcomes by connecting households to clinical and community health support.
Working in partnership with NHS Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire Council's community health teams, our Health Link workers receive referrals from GPs, pharmacists, and hospital social workers for patients whose health is being compromised by cold, damp housing or financial stress. We assess needs holistically, take immediate action on energy and benefits, and maintain a warm referral network covering mental health, food security, and social isolation. The programme reduces preventable GP appointments and has been cited by NHS Lanarkshire as a concrete example of social prescribing done well.
Taking advice and information directly into the streets, estates, and community spaces where Hamilton families already spend their time.
We run regular drop-in sessions at community centres, faith halls, libraries, and food banks across Hamilton and the neighbouring villages of Blantyre and Larkhall. Our outreach workers also make home visits for households who cannot travel — particularly older residents, people with disabilities, and families with young children. Each outreach session is staffed by at least one adviser who can begin a formal assessment on the spot, meaning that nobody walks away with just a leaflet. We also run seasonal campaigns, intensifying our reach in autumn ahead of the heating season when the stakes are highest.
The practical shape of a week at Vibrant Health Advocates - Vega looks something like this: on Monday morning an adviser might be at a kitchen table in Hillhouse helping a single mother of three work through a Universal Credit migration; by Tuesday afternoon a different adviser is in a community centre in Ferniegair running a drop-in session where a retired miner and his wife discover they have been missing Pension Credit for two years.
A home visit to an elderly resident in Eddlewood on Wednesday uncovers a damp-damaged bedroom that a Warmer Homes grant can fix. On Thursday we hear back from an energy supplier that a client's debt has been written off under a hardship scheme we applied to on her behalf three weeks ago. Every one of those interactions is what we mean when we say we join things up — benefits, heating, health, and human contact, delivered without a waiting list or a bureaucratic barrier.
All of our services are free of charge and open to any household in Hamilton and the surrounding South Lanarkshire area that is on a low income or facing financial hardship. We do not require referrals — people can come to us directly — and we do not set arbitrary eligibility cut-offs. Our starting point is always: what does this household need, and what are they entitled to? Everything else follows from there.
Get support todayKitchen table in Hillhouse — helping a single mother of three navigate Universal Credit migration.
Drop-in at Ferniegair community centre — a retired couple discover they have missed Pension Credit for two years.
Home visit in Eddlewood uncovers damp-damaged bedroom — Warmer Homes grant application submitted.
Energy supplier confirms a client's debt written off — hardship scheme application submitted three weeks prior.
