Warm banks: Walthamstow church hall turns community hub

Warm banks - or warms spaces as they are generally known - have popped up around London, offering hope to those struggling with cost of living crisis. 

Many of them are just somewhere for people to keep warm, but one in Walthamstow, north-east London, is more than that.

The community hall attached to St Barnabas Church is a food pantry, living room and somewhere for a hot chocolate and a chat with a neighbour.

Many families go there after school, and organisers say it breaks down barriers between communities who perhaps would not have met before.

Story by Ross Miklaszewicz

4 January 2024