A scheme to provide a “warm space” to Highbury’s vulnerable residents began this week at Elizabeth House Community Centre.
The joint initiative between Islington Council and Octopus Community Network aims to help 11,500 families already living in fuel poverty through the winter, a number expected to increase due to the cost of living crisis.
The scheme will run until March 2023.
Islington Council leader Kaya Comer-Schwartz hoped to help those who “will face the stark choice between feeding their family or heating their home” this winter.
Elizabeth House, in Hurlock Streeet, will initially offer two days per week where residents can take part in the centre’s social activities, have access to information and advice on coping with the cost of living crisis, and be served a hot lunch.
The warm space will be open to the public on Mondays and Wednesdays as an extension of the centre’s Women’s Support Group and Blue House Club for over 50s.
Nathalie Renaud, executive director of the centre, said there had been a “significant increase” in people using its services, with over 20 new households accessing food support in the last six weeks.
She anticipated that over the next five months, the centre will support between 300-500 people.
The council announced that it aims for warm hubs to be available seven days a week within “walking or wheeling distance of everyone’s front door”.
However, Ms Renaud said funding is not sufficient to provide the service for more than three days a week at Elizabeth House, an issue for older residents who are less able to travel across the borough to other community centres.
More information on how to access Elizabeth House’s services, as how to support the initiative, can be found on the centre’s website.
