An Orkney church will open a “heating hub” from October to help locals struggling with rising energy costs.
St Margaret’s Church, which serves South Ronaldsay and Burray, will be open every weekday for people to go and warm up without having to have the heating on at home.
Anyone in the area can use the church to chat, study, read or watch TV, regardless of whether they are already connected to the church.
In a post on Facebook, the church said: “We are happy to help anyone who needs it.”
Rev Dr Marjory MacLean, minister of South Ronaldsay and Burray Church, said the kirk session wanted to ease worries about the rising cost of living.
“People are no doubt really anxious about the future and we just want to say ‘don’t worry there is going to be something here as an alternative to heating your home during the day’,” she said.
“Hopefully it might ease people’s fears that they will have somewhere to go and read, knit, chat, play cards and accompanied children can sit and do their homework.”
‘Enormous’ response from community
“We have a refurbished building with ground source heating which means it has a nice, comfortable, ambient temperature of 18C,” added Rev MacLean.
“Following the devastating announcement on the energy price cap last week, we decided that we had to make an announcement and the reaction on Facebook has been enormous.”
The service will be free, but anyone using it is encouraged to leave a small donation if they can.
St Margaret’s Church isn’t the only place providing people with warm shelter as the winter months draw in.
Councils across the north and north-east are introducing a range of support including “warm banks” and welcoming people into council-run buildings.
Arbuthnott, Bervie and Kinneff Church in Inverbervie is also asking locals whether a “warm hub” is something that would benefit the community.
Big Food Appeal
Energy regulator Ofgem has announced a price cap of £3,549 a year for the average home – a rise of 80% on current prices.
Around 24 million homes will be impacted by the new cap.
People across the north and north-east are already struggling with the rising cost of living, with many already having to make the difficult choice between heating and eating.
The Press and Journal and Evening Express are helping to raise awareness of the help available to anyone struggling through the Big Food Appeal.
For more information, or to get involved with The Big Food Appeal, click here.
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