Communal ‘warm places’ to be set up across Bristol amid cost of living crisis

With the cost of living crisis expected to hit many households hard, Bristol will be implementing a scheme to provide warm venues for people to take refuge in.

Announcing the unprecedented plans, Marvin Rees said the city faces challenging times with increasing inflation and skyrocketing energy bills coming off the back of the pandemic and 12 years of austerity.

The mayor wants to create a network of ten or 11 venues across the city by the autumn that can provide warmth, as well as homework support for children, food, activities, access to services and transport to ensure people can get home again safely.

While the aim is to provide a safety net and support for those who can’t afford to heat their homes, Rees says he wants to avoid any stigma being associated with use of the spaces but instead create community places where people can come together.

Details of how the scheme would work are yet to be confirmed but the mayor is appealing for people or organisations with suitable buildings and other potential partners to come forward with offers of help. He hopes to have a plan firmly in place by September ready to open in the autumn.

The cost of living crisis is set to hit more households than ever this autumn – photo: Mia Vines Booth

“The ongoing top issue for us at the moment is how we deal with the cost of living crisis as it is right now,” Rees told journalists during a press briefing on Wednesday.

“But we expect it to intensify later in the year, both as the financial challenges facing Bristol households begin to build on themselves, but also, particularly when people want to put their heating on in the autumn – we certainly see ourselves preparing for that.

“So, a real challenging time off the back of 12 years of austerity funding for local government.”

The mayor said the council will be putting resources into the scheme, although details of this are yet to be confirmed. But he said it will only work if there’s a citywide effort to support people through the cost of living crisis this winter.

“We’re trying to work with the city to see how we can best support people as we go into those colder months,” said Rees.

Asked if there would be a criteria for who can use the proposed warm hubs, he continued: “I think we’re just going to be making it open. I don’t want it to be a place of stigma, I’d prefer it to be a place of community.

“This is a time when we need people to come together just as we did during Covid – we’ve got form on this and we’ve shown what people can do.”

He said the idea came from the collective of churches, who open their doors to people facing homelessness during the winter and the community they have created.

The mayor added: “It’s actually a proper collection of human relationships, it’s not just a bunch of services for desperate people. I think that’s the kind of culture we’d like around this; it’s about Bristol coming together and building relationships. In the middle of all this hardship, let’s get something good out of it.”

Main photo: Bristol City Council 

Read more: How women bear the brunt of the cost of living crisis 

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