FREE workshops are being held for Southampton residents to help them slash their energy bills.

Thanks to a £40,000 grant from the ScottishPower Energy People Trust, the Energy Action Southampton project is able to run DIY classes aimed at making houses warmer and householders richer.

Practical tips will be revealed such as how to line curtains to combat draughts from old windows to insulating a house effectively using everyday items lying around the house.

Energy advisors will also visit schools and youth groups as part of the Junior Energy Champions initiative, to give talks and run workshops on how easy it is to make a home warmer with simple solutions which do not cost the earth.

The initiative, run by the Environment Centre, is taking a novel approach by teaching simple but effective DIY skills to make their homes warmer.

Joanne Moodie, Project Manager at the Environment Centre said: “We can help people all over the city who might otherwise slip through the net into further fuel poverty.”

Families in the Coxford, Lordshill and Shirley Warren areas will be invited to take part in events at their local Sure Start Centre.

The course starts Wednesday, February 27, 2013 and runs for six weeks. Sessions will be 9.30- 11.30 on Wednesday mornings at St Jude's Hall, Warren Avenue. Places are limited and booking is essential.

A drop-in event and freebie give-away will take place at the Friends Meeting House, Ordnance Road, every Saturday from this weekend.

For more information or to reserve a place please contact Imelda on 07825 011574 or 023 8083 3863