Alnwick church to set up 'warm hub' amid cost of living crisis

The first free session at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on the Lionheart Enterprise Park takes place on Thursday, February 24 from 5pm to 9pm.

It is described by the church as “a low-pressure environment with no questions asked” where local residents can charge devices, play games, warm-up, eat soup, chat, and access the internet.

Participants can come for half an hour or four hours and booking is not required.

Vivien Kay, president of the local branch of the Relief Society, said: “I work at Bailiffgate museum and gallery and I receive Community Action Northumberland emails as part of my job, and I noticed that there were Warm Hubs in a lot of the small villages but that there was nothing for Alnwick itself.”

"I spoke to people at church and we were encouraged by our church to do service in the community and thought that this might be one way that we could help people in Alnwick by offering this facility.”

With the cost of living crisis becoming an increasing concern as bills soar, many say people are being forced to ‘heat or eat’. A statement that Vivien agreed with.

Energy regulator Ofgem is raising the energy bill cap by 54% from April, causing concerns that millions may be soon driven into fuel poverty in the midst of a chilly winter season.

The Alnwick hub is not currently part of Community Action Northumberland’s Warm Hub scheme but is on the waiting list to join the initiative.

The hub will initially run for three months and will continue if there is still a demand for the service beyond that period.

Vivien added: “It could be that people don’t need it over the summer and we start it up again next winter but we foresee the need for it being long-term rather than short term.”

"We felt it was something Alnwick needed”

She continued: "We’ve got five volunteers there to make soup and welcome people and we’ll just see how it goes.”