Warm This Winter: Charities form campaign group to fight cost of living crisis

Leading charities have formed a new campaign group called Warm This Winter to demand action from the government on the energy bills crisis.

Launching on the day the October energy price cap has been confirmed as £3,549, Warm This Winter is calling for support for struggling households, a rapid expansion of renewable energy, and a program of insulation for Britain’s homes.

The group, which is made up of charities including Greenpeace, Oxfam, and Save the Children, also wants the government to stop approving new oil and gas fields.

“We all deserve to be warm in our own home, but right now soaring energy bills mean that many millions of people will struggle to pay their energy bill. It doesn’t have to be this way,” a statement on Warm This Winter’s website read.

“The UK has the means to solve the energy price crisis – but it will take action from the government. We’re demanding the UK government helps those people who need it now and fixes the UK’s broken energy system for good.”

Anti-poverty and environmental charities make up the bulk of the 23 groups currently signed up to Warm This Winter. Others involved are the RSPB, End Fuel Poverty Coalition, petitions group 38 Degrees, and the Women’s Institute.

It joins a growing number of coalitions formed to demand government action on the escalating crisis.

Don’t Pay UK, which is aiming to muster one million people to refuse to pay their bills on October 1, says it has signed up over 100,000 people so far and is holding a protest outside Ofgem’s London office on Friday evening.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has launched the Anti-Poverty Coalition, which includes The Big Issue, warning that half the UK’s population could fall into fuel poverty. As a last resort, Brown has called for energy companies to be temporarily nationalised if they cannot provide affordable energy.