More and more people are turning to âwarm banksâ as the cold snap bites, figures reveal.
The Mirrorâs Christmas Appeal is raising funds for Warm Welcome centres â free community spaces providing warmth and company this winter.
Organisers say the number of people using these warm spaces rose by 15,000 in the past two weeks, from 65,000 to 80,000.
And they expect demand to rise still further as temperatures fall below freezing this week amid the cost of living crisis.
There are now nearly 5,000 Warm Welcome venues across Britain, including fire-stations, pubs, theatres, mosques and churches.
They are free and everyone is welcome.
Your support will help pay for the cost of heating the buildings and, where possible, provide food, hot drinks and toys for children.
Some, such as the one run the charity ISRA in Sparkhill, Birmingham, also offer cookery lessons and coffee mornings.
Our Warm Hearts appeal is today backed by actor Michael Sheen and broadcaster Bobby Seagull. Sheen warns that seven million people will be pushed into fuel poverty this winter.
He said: "Whilst it's unacceptable that these spaces should be needed, I find great hope and encouragement to know that there are nearly 5,000 of them that have responded to make sure that no one is left out in the cold.
"It shows our community spirit and character at its best."
Seagull said: "The cost of living crisis is affecting every single one of us, so as a community we have to face it together.
"That means making sure no one is left out in the cold.
"To the businesses, faith groups, pubs, clubs and cafes offering a Warm Welcome I want to say a huge thank you.
"And to those looking for support, I want you all to know that we are with you. We are on your side and we will get through this together."
Warm Welcome spaces include the Middlesbrough Football Club Foundation, which is hosting a Christmas cost of living event on December 20, St Edmundsbury Cathedral in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, and the Turner Contemporary art gallery in Margate, Kent.
The project is also backed by Newham Council in central London, which has set up 'warm havens' in libraries.
Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz, added: "The Cost of Living Crisis facing so many households in Newham means that we are providing even more support."
The Warm Welcome project is backed by every major faith in the UK and community organisations such as Rotary. Amanda Watkin, of Rotary, said: "Rotary have thousands of willing volunteers.
"We're pleased to be matching our volunteers up to Warm Welcome spaces across the UK to help, serve tea and coffee and provide being a friendly face and warm welcome to anyone that walks through the doors."
- Every town and city in the country now has a Warm Welcome venue, easily findable at warmwelcome.uk.
- Click here for the link to donate.
Share some warmth
- by Maryam Qaiser
The first thing you notice stepping into this busy kitchen is the welcoming aroma of delicious cooking.
This wonderful smell has long been the hallmark of the charity founded in response to the 1984 famine in Sudan.
For nearly four decades Isra UK has been helping millions of people around the world in extreme poverty by providing food, water and shelter.
But now it is having to help British people too.
At Isra UK's community space in Birmingham, women can come together to keep warm, eat well and try to juggle their bills.
Among those cooking there is Jamila Khatoon, 42, a former ambulance service worker whose fuel bills have trebled in the last few months. She says: "My smart meter was always around £3 a day for gas and electricity, now it's £9.
"There are six people in our home so I now have a bathroom timer and after five minutes I'm knocking on the door, telling them to get out. I go round switching the lights off, we don't use the hairdryer and I only put the heating on for a few hours when the children come home. It is upsetting."
Cooking alongside her is Aminah Mollay, 72. The pensioner says: "It's like stepping back into the 1970s, when people would sit on the circular bus to stay warm - now people are doing it again.
"I try not to put my heating on. It makes you angry when you see big companies making billions of pounds of profit. I meet a different group of women every week here.
"When these ladies leave their homes in the rain to come here it says a lot."
The charity has a food bank twice a week, a cooking club, coffee mornings and classes.
It's Tuesday coffee mornings and Thursday cooking club have joined Warm Welcome UK, a network of safe, warm spaces supported in our Daily Mirror winter appeal.
Kheira Mohammed, 56, Isra UK's community and events officer, says: "Women here have always been telling us about their struggles, and now the worry has turned to the cost of living.
"Some ladies here have had food parcels, while some have been telling us their benefit money hasn't come through or they are worried about a bill."
Salima Abdou, who comes here to keep warm and has been a volunteer in the past, says: "We look out for each other during difficult times, we try to keep each other positive.
"We're always giving tips to each other on how to survive the energy crisis."
Sara Nawaz, 55, suffers from fibromyalgia, which causes pain across her body. She needs to keep warm and rest, and comes here to do that.
She says: "The staff and volunteers are so supportive, they even dropped food off for me when I had recent surgery.
"The atmosphere is amazing. Coming here really takes away my stress."
'Community spirit and character at its best'
- by Michael Sheen
This winter, the UK has been plunged into an unprecedented crisis as the cost of living and energy crises hit all of us.
For many though, it's not just about their bills costing more, it's a simple choice between eating and heating.
It's estimated that nearly seven million people in our country will be pushed into fuel poverty over the winter.
This is something that simply should not be happening and is not acceptable in modern Britain.
I grew up in Port Talbot and can still feel the sharp slap of a football on my skinny, bare legs on freezing cold Saturday mornings. As we stood trembling on those local pitches under the gaze of the steelworks there was never quite enough sleeve on our jerseys to cover every finger from the stinging wind.
What I never had to worry about though, is coming home to a cold house.
Across the country, it has been left to community spaces, libraries, churches, cafes and halls, to provide support to those who are struggling to heat their homes. Whilst it's unacceptable that these spaces should be needed, I find great hope and encouragement to know that there are nearly 5,000 of them that have responded to make sure that no-one is left out in the cold.
It shows some of our community spirit and character at its best.
These spaces, coordinated by Warm Welcome, are safe and warm places staffed by volunteers, opening for free so that if you're struggling to stay warm you can look up a place nearby and drop in for a cup of tea, or to charge your phone and talk to someone friendly.
The weather is really getting colder now and demand for these spaces is already rising.
In the last two weeks, a staggering 15,000 more people per week have attended a warm space, so if you're struggling, you're not alone.
Please, if you need help this winter, whether it's because of rising costs, bills, or even just feeling lonely and want to talk to someone local, just visit warmwelcome.uk and put in your postcode to find your nearest space.
