'Warm hub helps battle loneliness as well as cold'

Community centre workers said its warm hub is in high demand, with users coming in to battle the cold as well as isolation and loneliness.

Holbrook Community Care Association in Coventry, which opened its warm hub in 2022, said it had seen an increase in people using the service during the recent cold spell.

With temperatures dropping to -5C last week, development officer Mark Graham said people coming in to use the service cannot afford to use the heating at home.

The centre offers its warm hub service on Mondays between 12:00 and 14:00 GMT, with free meals offered at its cafe on Holbrook Lane on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The organisation opened two venues in 2022 to help people cope with energy price rises and living costs.

Energy bills are about 50% higher than pre-Covid levels, leaving many struggling alongside other financial demands.

The fall in temperatures has triggered cold weather payments for 2025, which some people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are entitled to.

The hubs are spaces where people can go to warm up for free if they cannot afford to heat their own home.

"Its not just the cold, it's the isolation," Mr Graham told BBC Radio CWR.

"People coming in can't afford to put the heating on at home so they come here to have a hot cup of tea, sit with someone and have a chat in the warmth."

He added the warm hub service was trying to organise volunteer drivers to go and collect people unable to travel to the centre, to make it more accessible.

"A lot of people that come in have issues with benefit applications - they don't have electricity or gas," he explained.

"They might need help with emergency credit. We'll support them, scope what people need.

"We're a really friendly team."

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