Cost of living: Warm hubs in Shrewsbury apply for council funding

A centre used by charities is opening as a warm hub for those struggling with the cost of energy.

The Roy Fletcher Centre in Shrewsbury is one of four organisations that have applied for a warm room grant from the town council.

The weekly sessions offer "some food, a warm space and a bit of company," said Pauline Briand, from the centre.

The council has set aside £5,000 to help organisations provide facilities for people worried about energy prices.

It is set to consider the applications, covering a combined total of £2,800, at a meeting on Monday evening.

Grace Church asked for funding towards its parent, carer and children groups on Thursdays at Harlescott Grange Community Hub.

And Shropshire Supports Refugees applied for £500 to help cover the coldest months for the hub which opens six days a week at the Riverside Centre.

Shrewsbury's Unitarian Church asked for £250 towards its Tuesday meetings.

Ms Briand said she hoped the hub would attract more people to the Roy Fletcher Centre on Cross Hill.

"We run an over-65 IT scheme and it's kind of an adjunct to this," said Ms Briand, its project manager.

She said some users may have "some reservations" about accepting charity, but the new Friday warm hub was a good social event.

"We are here to help people," she said. "We have got to be kind in this funny old world that we live in at the moment."

The IT service holds drop-in and one-to-one sessions on other days to build people's confidence using smart phones, tablets and laptops.

It began during the coronavirus lockdowns.

"Digital exclusion can be isolating," Ms Briand added.

Helen Ball, Shrewsbury Town clerk, said councillors recognised heating homes would be difficult this winter.

They wanted warm hubs spread across the town and days so there was "something for everybody to do on every single day", she said.

"Being a council that has more open space than buildings it was very difficult for us to suddenly find warm rooms so the best thing for us to do was to put some money aside and offer it to community groups to facilitate them doing it."

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