‘Bills keep going higher’: community ‘warm spaces’ on the rise in the UK

Walworth Living Room is a registered ‘warm space’ with the local authority, one of 50 this winter in the London borough of Southwark. Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

When Fatma Mustafa began attending Walworth Living Room, a community project in south London, a few years ago, she began to feel like it was her second home. The registered “warm space” is designed to feel like a living room: comfy sofas, a communal table, activities and food in a warm environment.

Mustafa, 48, says that on universal credit (UC) it is hard to cover bills and easy to fall into debt. Attending three days a week, she says, cuts costs on energy and groceries.