You've heard of a Food Bank, but have you heard of a Warm Space? As average household utility bills exceed £3,244 we're helping people to stay warm.

The average household bill is set to rise to a staggering £3244.

If you’re disabled the costs are greater again, with disabled households paying as much as £800 more than most, taking their costs closer to £4,000 per annum.

The energy cap is due to be reviewed again in October, but we’ll start to feel these rising prices from August as energy companies start to adjust their algorithms and our direct debits are adjusted.   And October is not the end of it - further increases are forecast right through to April next year.

It can be hard to think about the winter months when we are living through such a beautiful summer, but even now Citizens Advice is receiving calls from frantic residents worried about their situation.  Now for me, I’m thankful that for now at least, I can afford my energy costs although I’ll clearly need to think very hard about the choices I am making - I’ve already chased a teenager out of the shower this morning, and disconnected the tumble dryer!  But these minor discomforts are nothing in comparison to some, here's just a snap shot of the worries people are sharing with us:

“I’ve got medical equipment in my home, it helps me breathe, I can’t afford my electricity and I’m being threatened with disconnection, what will I do if that happens?”.

“I’m 74 years of age, my husband isn’t well, I’m can’t afford to retire I simply couldn’t pay my energy costs if I did, but how long can I go on?”

“My dad has passed away, and this has triggered a review of my benefits, since that happened I am using the foodbank every week, I just don’t have enough money and I’m borrowing off friends all the time”.

“We’re living mainly off potatoes, we can’t afford anything else”.

If it’s like this during the summer months,  how will advice services like ours manage the winter demand when so often the only option available to us is to talk to clients about how to heat the human not the home?

Let me be really blunt, I am not catastrophising, it is a truth - cold homes cost lives.  In 2020 the charity NEA estimated 8,500 lives were lost to cold homes, you can expect it to be much worse this winter. Low incomes, high energy costs, poor heating and insulation combine to create conditions that are unfit for the maintenance of health and wellbeing.  It exposes older people to more heart and lung conditions, children are more likely to have breathing problems and adolescents have increased risk of mental health problems.  We are walking towards a crisis, don’t let the sunshine fool you.

What are we doing about it at Citizens Advice Gateshead?  As I’ve said, for many people there’s little we can do to help them right now; costs have escalated beyond anything we could ever have imagined.  If you are under 25 and claiming Universal Credit your standard allowance is just £265.31 per month – how can we help you with an energy bill that could top £3k if  your income is less than the energy cap itself, taking more than 100% of your income just for fuel?    Where once we would talk about income maximisation, budgeting and energy efficiency, now often the only options available are to help you make an application for charitable assistance or to talk to you about hot water bottles, extra blankets and draft proofing – and let's not forget hope for a mild winter!

If the homes people live in are so cold, they are dangerous, what can we do?

It's not a perfect answer, and it won’t work for everyone, but to try and off-set what’s coming, we’re working in partnership with Gateshead Council and others to develop Warm Spaces for Gateshead.  Warm Spaces is a network of places across Gateshead where people can come together to stay warm, enjoy a hot drink, take some company and if they need it talk to someone about their problems, so they can be signposted to other services that may be able to help them.

All sorts of organisations have signed up to get involved in this great Gateshead initiative -  community centres, village halls, faith groups, libraries, resident associations, and sports clubs to name just a few.   In signing up the local partners agree to open their doors to their local community and abide by the Warm Space Charter.  The Charter was developed with the help of the Gateshead Poverty Truth Commission taking advice from people with lived experience of poverty. The Charter helps local people who want to use the Warm Spaces to know what to expect when they step across the threshold of a Warm Space building; a guarantee of respect, dignity and warmth.  A confidential space, where you can go to keep warm, to work, to rest, to chat and where there’s no expectation of anything more.

To find out more about Warm Spaces in Gateshead take a few minutes to listen to my interview with Radio 4, which you can find on the BBC Sounds App, visit www.gateshead.gov.uk or send me a message. I'd love to hear your experiences, and if you or someone you know needs help with your energy bill you can find help at www.citizensadvice.org.uk, telephone 0808 223 1133 or visit www.moneysavingexpert.com.