In their fourth week Buckley Councillors are thanking all that have made the warm room a success. Since day one Buckley Warm Room, on a Tuesday morning at the Old Library building, has been ‘warmly’ received by locals. Some have joined every week and have even started to bring their own mugs to make sure the disposable (recyclable) ones don’t need to be used.
The warm room now has books, jigsaws, board games and recipe swapping. This is all on top of free tea, coffee, biscuits and soup. As well as cost of living information.
A network of Warm Rooms has opened across Flintshire to provide a safe, welcoming space for anyone struggling with heating costs during the winter months, but also supporting loneliness.
From community halls and churches to leisure centres, the network of Warm Rooms are each providing a warm space, hot drinks and an opportunity to connect with others in the community.
Warm Rooms have come to be necessary since the cost of living has made living expenses 4 times as expensive. A lot of people are struggling to afford basic costs like heating.
Cllr Carolyn Preece said “if people have ideas of what they’d like there please say, we’ve also had people that have just come for the company, which is brilliant as it means so much to people that there are people to talk to. These darker cold nights affect people’s mental health and its important we do all we can to tackle loneliness”
Buckley Warm Room have had others drop in to offer help and support including North Wales Police, County Councillors and even Hanson Cement.
Buckley Councillors reached out to Hanson Cement early on, knowing budgets were tight and asked if they would sponsor the project, Hanson were delighted to be involved and have provided resources from teabags and soup, to paper cups and napkins a huge support for those using the warm rooms.
Cllr Dan Rose said “These rooms may seem like a small thing, but the impact they can make is not just a warm room to help save some heating costs, it’s the start of a support network. Councillors both Town and County are usually available to ask for additional help, we can support them directly or signpost to other areas of support, even submit referrals on their behalf. Quite a few have learned of additional funding and support programs they didn’t know existed.”
Carolyn and Dan we’re clear that the Warm Rooms were to be a hub of support both personal and structural. Isolation has been a growing issue in the last few years, with figures from a 2015 study proving
- Loneliness is likely to increase your risk of death by 26% (Holt-Lunstad, 2015)
- Loneliness, living alone and poor social connections are as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. (Holt-Lunstad, 2010)
- Loneliness is worse for you than obesity. (Holt-Lunstad, 2010)
- Half a million older people go at least five or six days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone at all
Action for Children have also reported 24% of parents surveyed said they were always or often lonely, the warm room would like to reach out to parents who are feeling this and confirm they’d be very welcome to attend after dropping the children off at school, just come and visit, Cllr Preece said “no one needs to state any problems or worries, just come join us for a coffee and a chat. We’ve all had chats on everything from cooking tips to cat personalities. If you have any questions you want to answer, just get in touch with us, there is no pressure or questions.”
Cllr Ian Howes said “I’ve attended each session, it feels very much like the old way a community was built with simple conversation over a cuppa. It’s helped me get out of the house more and connect with the community again. Since Covid I think we’ve all changed our patterns and Warm Rooms is helping get us back.”
