A few weeks ago, when the black mould began creeping up the walls of her house again, Carla Francesca, 41, started to search for places she could escape to with her two-year-old daughter. For a few hours, at least, they would be able to avoid the damp and the smell of mildew.
On Thursday, she spent some of the morning at the Gainsborough library in south-east Ipswich, in one of the city’s newly designated warm banks. The modern building is kept heated to 21C; its cafe offers free hot drinks and has a welcoming smell of toast. It feels like a healthier and more cheerful place than her home, where she has been keeping the heating off during the day to save money, and has experimented with keeping some of the windows open in an attempt to stop the spreading mould.
