Cost of living crisis: Northamptonshire village youth club welcomes residents into ‘warm room’

Another Northamptonshire village has set up a community space for residents to get warm as the cost of living continues to rise.

Nether Heyford Parish Council opened up a ‘warm room’ at the village youth club in Ridgeway Furlong on Wednesday, October 19.

Residents of all ages are welcome to the warm room every Wednesday from 9am to 5pm to socialise, help themselves to hot drinks and biscuits and make use of the provisions there.

Clerk to the Nether Heyford Parish Council Gay Ravine said: “I think we are all worried about our heating bills and the way inflation is taking off at the moment.

“We haven’t seen anything like this since the 1970s and it is really quite alarming. I think any help of this sort would be welcomed.”

The warm room is a cosy space in the youth hall equipped with tables and chairs, a television, board games, card games, books, newspapers and magazines.

Those using the space are welcome to help themselves to hot beverages and refreshments, kindly donated by One Stop.

The warm space is currently open every Wednesday from 9am to 5pm - but the Parish Council has hopes to soon extend its use to two days a week and make it feel like more of a community hub to combat isolation.

Guy said: “We have all been through terrific struggles partly with Covid which just made it worse for a lot of people.

“This is a nice and well-to-do village but plenty of people are on their own here who would welcome the opportunity to come for a chat.”

On the day of the warm room’s launch, 19 people came to visit. Guy believes there will be many more as we drift into the cold winter months.

One person who has benefited from Nether Heyford’s warm room is 53-year-old Wendy Green.

Wendy lives with a number of debilitating health conditions including fibromyalgia, which causes widespread pain all over the body and extreme fatigue.

She loves to crochet and has donated a large bag of colourful woolly hats and scarves to the warm room for residents, who need to wrap up.

Wendy told the Chronicle & Echo she wants to give back to those who have helped her over the years.

She said: “I appreciate it because I have a lot of health issues and I am in pain. I don’t like to ask for help but, if it’s there, I will use it. So this warm room is brilliant.”

At home, Wendy cannot afford to turn on her heating. She tries to make use of plug-in heaters instead but said even that can be expensive.

Wendy said: “Even cat food is getting stupid prices - it really is bad - and I have four.

“I’ve been at my home for 13 years and, in the first year, there was a really bad snow storm. I had a heater on upstairs and one downstairs and my quarterly bill was £450. I dread to think what it would be now.”

To find out more about the Nether Heyford warm room, email [email protected].