U.K News

In Britain, ‘Warm Hubs’ Emerge To Beat Soaring Energy Costs in 2023

Published

2 years ago

2023-03-04

Kiara Grace

STRATFORD UPON AVON, England— The foyer of the Other Place theater is a warm haven on a chilly late-winter day in Shakespeare’s hometown. Coffee-shop goers hold meetings, check emails, compose poems, and take sewing classes.

The Royal Shakespeare Company drama troupe opened a “warm hub,” which looks and feels like an artsy café in the picturesque streets of Stratford-upon-Avon, to welcome people struggling to heat their homes due to sky-high energy prices.

As rising food and energy prices force millions to turn down the thermostat or cut back on hot meals, thousands of warm hubs have sprung up across Britain this winter. Nearly 13,000 of these hubs were identified by the opposition Labour Party’s research. They are located in places as diverse as libraries, churches, community centers, and even a tearoom at King Charles III’s Highgrove country estate and are supported by a combination of charitable, community, and government funding.

A mutual friend told seventh-generation Stratfordian and artist/author Wendy Freeman about the Britain RSC’s welcoming hub. The only heat source in her “tiny house” is a coal fire. The highest inflation since the 1980s has caused a cost-of-living crisis, and she has had to make sacrifices like many others.

More people in Britain are struggling to make ends meet due to the combined effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine,

Freeman, 69, took advantage of the center’s warm, quiet environment to work on a poem. “You just adapt,” he said. “Simple things like using less water in the tea kettle. I was taught to “save the pennies, and the pounds will look after themselves.” I stick to eating seasonal, home-cooked meals.

She continued, “But it’s nice to go somewhere warm.

More people in Britain are struggling to make ends meet due to the combined effects of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the ongoing disruption caused by the pandemic, and the economic aftershocks of Brexit. When Russia invaded Ukraine, it caused the price of natural gas used for heating to skyrocket, pushing the United Kingdom to the verge of a recession. This hit households and businesses particularly hard.

The annual inflation rate in the Bitain United Kingdom was just over 10% in January, with food prices rising by nearly 17% year-over-year. According to the Office of National Statistics, approximately 62% of adults are reducing their natural gas and electricity consumption to cut costs. Survey firm Survation found that one-third of households frequently have trouble making ends meet.

The average Britain household’s energy bill is still double what it was a year ago, despite the decline in oil and natural gas prices from their highs earlier this year. In many cases, prices will increase by 20% on April 1 due to a government-imposed price cap increase.

Former math teacher Anne Bolger discovered the cozy gathering place while out for a stroll and has been a regular visitor ever since. She occasionally stops by to do things like jigsaw puzzles, check email, and study for her math tutoring job.

Today is the day that I appreciate it because it’s so cold at home,” she said.

The average Britain household’s energy bill is still double what it was a year ago.

The hub operates once per week on Thursday afternoons in the RSC’s smallest of three performance spaces. On Tuesday, the space was occupied by a diverse group of people: theatre workers, actors on their way to rehearsals, and curious onlookers hoping to warm up. Free tea, coffee, Wi-Fi, a sewing table, board games, puzzles, and toys for children are provided.

Bolger, who is 66 years old, praised the store’s conduciveness to creativity Britain. People are meeting, conversing, and working in that area. I feel more connected and alive when I’m out and about, as opposed to at home.

This is exactly the kind of feedback the event planners hoped to receive. Warm hubs are said to alleviate energy poverty and isolation.

“The warmth is in the welcome as much as a warm building to come to,” explained Nicola Salmon, the RSC’s creative place-making manager overseeing the hub. Talking to someone is a natural part of being here.

Stratford, located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Britain London, is a thriving community thanks largely to its most famous son, William Shakespeare. On cold winter weekdays, visitors can be seen going through streets lined with Tudor-style half-timbering on their way to the birthplace of the Bard, the classroom where he was educated, and his grave in the 13th-century Holy Trinity Church.

Warm hubs are an emergency response that looks to be here to stay

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is Stratford’s major employer and cultural institution. According to Salmon, the company’s “warm hub” is an attempt to better connect with the local community. The town is “often perceived as affluent and well-off,” but it has “areas of great deprivation,” he says.

Warm hubs are an emergency response that looks to be here to stay, much like the 2,500 food banks in the United Kingdom.

In 2021, as pandemic restrictions left many rural residents in Britain isolated, the Warwickshire Rural Community Council, a charity serving the county around Stratford, opened a warm mobile hub in the form of a minibus converted into a pop-up outdoor café.

With support from Cadent, the private company that distributes much of Britain’s heating gas, the charity ran five hubs across the county a year ago. With the onset of winter and the accompanying increase in energy costs, the group quickly grew to 90, with services ranging from catered meals to repair clinics and classes on slow cooking to cut down on gas consumption.

A mobile hub will travel five days a week, and about 30 permanent hubs will remain open over the summer.

“People say we shouldn’t be in this situation, and we shouldn’t be,” said Jackie Holcroft, manager of the charity’s Britain warm hubs. To counter that, however, we are. And I think one of the most incredible things is how many people in Warwickshire have volunteered their time to help.

At the end of March, the RSC will shut down its warm space, but preparations are underway for its return in 2019.

Bolger, a regular, expressed his sadness over its impending absence. I don’t want the fuel shortage to last forever, but I hope this place remains operational.
SOURCE – (AP)

U.K News

London Hit With Heavy Snow as Temperatures Plummet

Published

6 days ago

2024-11-19

Geoff Brown

London, England, has been gripped by an Arctic freeze, with temperatures dipping well below zero, snow forcing trains to stop, and over 200 schools closing in and across the UK.

Commuters faced traffic mayhem as Braemar in Aberdeenshire recorded the coldest temperature in the UK this early in the season since 1998, at -11.2C (12.2F).

Today, the Met Office issued three yellow weather warnings for snow and ice across the Midlands and North of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

The UK Health Security Agency issued the season’s first amber cold weather health advisory, warning that circumstances could be hazardous to vulnerable people.

Poor weather hampered rail travel, with no trains running between Nottingham and Worksop or between Llandudno and Blaenau Ffestiniog in North Wales.

A couple walks on the snow-covered ground at Pavillion Gardens in Buxton, Derbyshire.

Northern services in Yorkshire between Bradford and Huddersfield, Hebden Bridge to Halifax, and Halifax to Hull were all disrupted while flooding at Ulverston in Cumbria caused delays between Barrow-in-Furness and Lancaster.

Around 130 Welsh schools closed in Wrexham, Powys, Denbighshire, and Flintshire, with closures also reported in Birmingham, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire.

Nearly 5 inches (12 cm) of snow fell at Watnall in Nottinghamshire, with 3 inches (8 cm) at Cranwell in Lincolnshire and 2 inches (5 cm) at Lake Vyrnwy in Powys, Wales.

The Met Office issued warnings that vehicles might become trapped, power outages could occur, remote communities could be shut off, and falling on ice could cause injury.

England has a yellow warning until 11 a.m., while Scotland has a warning until 10 a.m. tomorrow. Another warning for Northern Ireland expired at 10 a.m.

The UK Health Security Agency issued an amber cold weather health notice for the East and North of England, the Midlands, Yorkshire, and the Humber.

Yellow health alerts went into effect for the South East, South West, and London at 8 a.m. today and will run until 6 p.m. on Saturday.

National Rail warned that the cold weather would impair several routes on northern rail services until at least 2 p.m. today.

Merseyrail issued a notice informing passengers that due to the possibility of snow and ice covering tracks, the first train on each line in North West England would run without passengers to allow conditions to be examined.

National Highways also issued a strong amber weather advisory for snow, indicating that the M1 in Leeds and Sheffield, the M56 in Manchester, junction 39 of the M6, and junctions 21-23 of the M62 may see interruption.

WEATHER WARNING 1: The Met Office snow warning in Northern Ireland terminated at 10 a.m. today.

WEATHER WARNING 2: A separate snow and ice warning for Northern England until 11 a.m. today.

WEATHER WARNING 3: Scotland’s snow and ice warning is live until 10 a.m. tomorrow.

The Met Office, which characterized the weather as ‘the first taste of winter,’ said heavy snow will cause problems in England, with Derbyshire being the most vulnerable.

According to Dan Suri, the Met Office’s chief meteorologist, a low-pressure system will move eastward on Monday night.

The related frontal system, which marks the border between cold air in the north and milder weather in the south, may deliver disruptive snow to certain locations between Monday evening and Tuesday morning.

Dr. Agostinho Sousa of the UK Health Security Agency stated, “This is the first amber Cold Weather Health Alert of the season, but we can expect more as winter approaches. It is critical to check in on vulnerable friends, family, and neighbors to ensure they are well prepared for the onset of cold weather.”

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U.K News

Windsor Castle Robbed While Royal Family Slept

Published

7 days ago

2024-11-19

Geoff Brown

UK police report two men broke into the Windsor Castle estate, home to Prince William and Catherine and their three children and stole two vehicles.

According to the Sun newspaper, the robbers broke into a farm building on the Windsor estate and stole a black Isuzu pick-up truck and a red quad bike stashed in a barn.

The Prince and Princess of Wales reportedly arrived at their estate home during the nighttime burglary.

Thames Valley Police stated the individuals ran to the Old Windsor/Datchet area, but no arrests have been made.

“Offenders entered a farm building and stole vehicles,” the police added. An investigation is underway regarding the incident.

There have been previous security incidents at Windsor. On Christmas Day in 2021, an intruder was apprehended on the grounds of Windsor Castle. Jaswant Singh Chail, who was equipped with a crossbow, received a nine-year prison sentence.

The Windsor estate, located west of London, spans 15,800 acres and contains functioning farms, conservation areas, Windsor Great Park, and well-known royal attractions, including Windsor Castle.

Windsor Castle received 1.4 million visitors last year, making it the UK’s most popular royal tourist site.

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U.K News

Britain’s Conservative Party Elects Kemi Badenoch as Leader

Published

3 weeks ago

2024-11-02

Ana Wong

Conservatives pick Kemi Badenoch as party leader

U.K. Conservatives pick Kemi Badenoch as their party's new leader

Britain’s Conservative Party elected outspoken MP Kemi Badenoch as its new leader on Saturday, making her the first woman of color to lead a major British political party.

She has promised to give the right-of-center Tories “renewal” by advocating for a smaller state and rejecting identity politics.

The new leader faces a daunting challenge in restoring the party’s reputation after years of division, scandal, and economic turbulence, hammering Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s policies on key issues such as the economy and immigration and returning the Conservatives to power in the 2029 election.

“The task that stands before us is tough but simple,” Kemi Badenoch said in a victory address to a room full of Conservative legislators, staff, and journalists in London. She stated that the party’s role was to hold the Labour administration accountable while developing commitments and a government strategy.

Addressing the party’s electoral defeat, she stated, “We have to be honest — honest about the fact that we made mistakes, honest about the fact that we let standards slip.”

“The time has come to tell the truth, to stand up for our principles, to plan for our future, to reset our politics and our thinking, and to give our party, and our country, the new start that they deserve,” according to Badenoch.

Kemi Badenoch was Born in London

Kemi Badenoch, a business secretary in Sunak’s cabinet, was born in London to Nigerian parents and grew up in West Africa.

The former software engineer positions herself as a disruptor, advocating for a low-tax, free-market economy and promising to “rewire, reboot, and reprogram” the British state. Like her adversary Jenrick, she has opposed multiculturalism and advocated for decreased immigration, but unlike him, she has not asked that Britain abandon the European Convention on Human Rights.

Kemi Badenoch, a self-proclaimed hater of wokeness, opposes identity politics, gender-neutral toilets, and government initiatives to reduce carbon emissions in the United Kingdom. During the leadership race, she was chastised for claiming that “not all cultures are equally valid” and implying that maternity pay was excessive.

Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary University of London, predicted that under Badenoch, the Conservative Party would “swing to the right both in terms of its economic and social policies.”

He foretold that Badenoch will follow “what you might call the boats, boilers and bathrooms strategy …. focusing very much on the trans issue, the immigration issue and skepticism about progress towards net zero.”

Conservative Party Becoming More Diverse

While the Conservative Party is unrepresentative of the country as a whole, with a decreasing membership of 132,000 mostly affluent, elderly white men, its higher echelons have become significantly more diverse.

Badenoch is the Tories’ fourth female leader, following Margaret Thatcher, Theresa May, and Liz Truss, who became prime ministers.

She is the second Conservative leader of color, following Sunak, and the first with African heritage. The center-left Labour Party has a more diversified membership, but its leaders have always been white men.

In a more than three-month leadership contest, Conservative MPs narrowed the field from six to two in a series of votes before presenting the last two to a vote of the party’s membership.

Both finalists were from the party’s right-wing and claimed they could reclaim votes from Reform U.K., the hard-right, anti-immigrant group led by populist leader Nigel Farage that has eroded Conservative support.

However, the party lost many votes to the winning party, Labour, and the centrist Liberal Democrats, and some Conservatives are concerned that tacking right may move the party away from popular sentiment.

Kier Starmer’s Labor government has had a difficult first few months in power, plagued by unfavorable headlines, fiscal woes, and a sinking approval rating.

However, Bale stated that the historical record implies Badenoch’s chances of leading the Conservatives back to power in 2029 are slim.

“It’s quite unusual for someone to take over when a party gets very badly beaten and manage to lead it to election victory,” according to him. “However, Keir Starmer did just that after 2019. So there are records to break.”

Source: AP