COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Michelle Williams says the Holbrooks warm bank helps take the stigma away from being on the breadline



High levels of fuel poverty have seen a rise in demand for Coventry warm banks, the charity that runs them says.

Holbrooks Community Association supports people struggling to heat their homes and the rise has come before the weather really turns cold.

The charity opened two venues last year to help those with soaring energy prices and living costs.

In 2021, Coventry City Council said the city had one of the UK's highest levels of fuel poverty, with a rate of 20.8%.

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

The cost of living and the state of the British economy will come into focus this week in his autumn statement on Wednesday.

Holbrooks organiser Mark Graham said dozens of people had been using their warm banks in recent weeks.

"We've already got more people coming this year than we did last year - and it's not even really cold yet," Mr Graham said.

"Everything is costing a fortune. Things have gone down a little bit but is still costing a lot more than it did two years ago."

Earlier this month, Coventry resident Nicola Good launched a scheme in the city that offers people free coats to those who need them.

Michelle Williams, a project worker for Holbrooks, said many people faced a choice between eating and heating.

"A lot of people are in the same boat," she said. "[The bank] takes that stigma away from being on the breadline, which most of us are."

The government has already announced it will pay £300 to low-income households this month as part of its £900 support package.

One mum, who did not wish to be identified, is struggling to afford to heat her home, and the government support on offer is cold comfort.

"My energy bill went from £60 total to £188 a month," she said. "Now the government say they are giving a one-off bonus of £300 - that doesn't even touch one month's worth of electricity."

The government has already announced it will pay £300 to low-income households this month as part of its £900 support package.

'I've not seen the candidates but they want my vote'



The ‘social supermarket’ in Holbrooks is bustling – food is being cooked on site, some collected, some enjoyed with friends over lunch.

It’s not a food bank in the traditional sense. Each product is sold at a reduced rate, partly to take away the stigma of a free food label, but also to ensure families in Coventry get the helping hand they need.

The service at Holbrooks Community Centre remains as busy as when I last visited in 2022.

But you really do sense the election of a new mayor for the West Midlands – or any elected official for that matter - is not a topic of conversation over today’s generous helping of spaghetti bol.

To be blunt, people here said there was a disconnect between what politicans promise and what they deliver, geographically and metaphorically.

The role of West Midlands Mayor has little purpose in Coventry, Janet Urquhart [pictured above] said.

“I’ve not seen the candidates or had their leaflets through, yet they want my vote," she said.

“Coventry is detached because when they talk about West Midlands they stop at Solihull. When you hear about regeneration, it’s always Birmingham. We never hear about Coventry and the city is in dire straits.”

Kathleen Barnes describes herself as someone who ‘doesn’t do politics’ but said the cost of living was showing little signs of abating for working families.

“They keep giving you things in one hand and taking it back in another.

"It’s not only people on benefits that are struggling, it’s people on low wages, they don’t get recognised. Young couples, for example, can’t find places to live and rents have gone up so high.”

‘Fiona’ is sitting on a table nearby. She does not want to be identified because of the sensitivities around her family’s social care.

She has a son with a range of complex disabilities. She recalled the feeling of almost losing him to social services because she could not access support and had been told there were shortages of early help social workers.

She wants to vote for someone who truly understands the need for social care reform – to keep families like hers together.

“Without the support of special needs schools, social workers and their care packages, I would not have my son now.

“We have been through everything with him.

“It is really stressful. Without the right people in the right places to help these families, more children will end up in residential care. I’d like the mayor to get involved in upskilling and recruiting good social workers," she said.

Marcus Swinburn, a volunteer at the centre, said he rarely voted but if he did he’d like more youth activities provided in Coventry for young people.

“That and sorting out potholes for once and for all," he added.

Here, those working to help others have themselves benefited from the support on offer.



Michelle Williams [pictured above], a mother of three and project worker at Holbrooks Community Care Association, said the next mayor must come and talk to people more.

She works 28 hours a week but has come to rely on the centre’s supermarket and after her partner lost his job last August.

“I think they [the politicians] live different lives to us. I don’t believe they really understand what it’s like to struggle and what it is to have minus figures in your bank.

“It would be nice to have someone who has been through the same trials and tribulations as the rest of us. It’s very easy to sit in your ivory tower and dish out orders.”