Plymouth MP wants more 'Heat Banks'

Things are really heating up!

A Plymouth MP and a local councillor are both urging the city council to extend the opening hours of libraries, community centres and other public buildings to provide “heat banks” for people struggling to pay their increasing energy costs. 

Labour MP for Sutton and Devonport, Luke Pollard, and Labour councillor for Stoke, Jemima Laing, say Plymothians will struggle this winter and need somewhere warm to go when they are unable to afford their heating bills. 

Cllr Laing said: “We know how tough this winter is going to be for so many people across Plymouth.

“That’s why we need the city council to create a heat bank strategy; working with partners across the city to provide places for people to come so that no one has to sit in a cold home too worried about energy prices to turn their heating on.”

Mr Pollard launched the heat banks campaign on Friday 7 October at Moments Cafe on New George St.  The cafe is a social enterprise run by Memory Matters, a dementia support organisation based in the city centre.

He said: “It’s a space that originally started off as a safe space for people with dementia to get out of their homes, to feel comfortable. And it has grown over the years into a community hub for the very heart of our city. And that’s why it’s so important that places like this are also warm banks.”

Mr Pollard suggested it was a model for how other communal settings could help keep people warm this winter.

“I want there to be warm banks right across our city doing exactly the same as the excellent work that’s taking place here.”

Regular customer at the cafe, Linda Lorimer, meets with friends who have formed a knitting club.  

“It’s like being part of a family,” she says. “Everybody speaks to everybody else. Nobody’s ever excluded.”

Her friend Alex Grant said it was a place to keep warm and share problems.  

“One of the staff … she one day found out that wasn’t being ‘me’,” she explained.  “She sat down with me, did a one-to-one talk and slowly I’ve got better.

CEO of Memory Matters and the Moments Cafe Kate Smith, explained why the centre is a good location for a heat bank.  

“I think this is a non-stigmatising place,” she said. “So basically anybody can come in here, anybody can take part in our free activities. We run something like 14 different activities a week here, from art groups to knitting groups to model-making. 

“It’s all free and we’ve put that on specifically over the winter so that people don’t have to sit at home and worry about putting their heating on. 

“They can come in here, have free cups of coffee during their activity, and spend some time getting to know other people.”

Although Moments aims to be relaxed and comfortable, Mr Pollard said if Plymouth City Council failed to have a strategy on creating warm environments this winter, the consequences could be very serious.

“My real fear is there will be people who die in their homes this winter because of the cold,” he said. “And that’s why we can all do something. 

“The council can open libraries and community centres. Cafés and church halls can open their doors to allow people to feel safe and warm this winter. 

“And if we all do that, we will get through what I fear will be a desperately cold and really difficult winter for our city.”  

Household energy bills have more than doubled in the past twelve months, with the average annual bill in winter 2020/21 standing at around £1,000.

This week, Libraries Unlimited said Devon’s libraries would welcome people coming in to keep warm. Plymouth’s Theatre Royal will open for people who are worried about the cost of heating their homes.