Churches urged: ‘Provide warm space’

Let no one be left out in the cold. This is the clear message to churches from the new Warm Welcome campaign which is urging them to open up this winter and provide warm shelter for those who cannot afford their energy bills.

The initiative is creating a network of churches and other community spaces to provide warmth for society’s most vulnerable. According to a recent warning from Citizens Advice, a quarter of people in the UK will be unable to afford their energy bills from October – with families, the elderly and the disabled bearing the brunt.

There are fears that many will be forced to choose between eating or heating their homes. The End Fuel Poverty Coalition has warned that 16.4 million people will be in fuel poverty this coming winter.