Help for Households event helps Croydon residents with rising living costs

The impact of rising fuel, food, water and energy bills has had a huge impact on families and communities who are already struggling to meet the basic needs in life which could result in an increase to health inequalities.

In South West London, 62,000 (1 in 10) households were in fuel poverty before the recent increases in energy bills. Nationally, average household energy bills have risen from £750 per year in 2021 to £3500 per year.

The cost of living crisis has caused increasing pressure on local communities with some people not knowing where to find the right support. To combat this, ClearCommunityWeb recently held the Help for Households event to connect people to local support available.

Held at Upper Norwood Library Hub, organisations across the borough came together to promote their services in a relaxed environment offering free mental health, wellbeing and financial support.

Organisations inlcluding Nature Vibezzz, It’s A Playground, Norwood Junk Action, Christ Church Gipsy Hill and Centre70 hosted information stalls for local residents to find out about the support on offer. NHS staff also attended to give information on accessing local health and care services and listen to people’s experience of care.

It’s A Playground ran a taster session of their “Breaking the Worry Chain” workshop, covering basic tools on how to deal with worry and living with uncertainty. This gave people the opportunity to share their own wellbeing tips and encourage helpful conversations about mental health to empower individuals.

The event was absolutely brilliant. Bringing together the community and raising awareness of local and national organisations and the support they offer. ClearCommunityWeb and the Upper Norwood Library Hub did an amazing job at creating a warm, welcoming space that encouraged honest chats, good connections and sharing of resources and support.”

Laura Rigden, It’s a Playground.

Nature Vibezzz, a charity for all ages and families, promoted the physical and mental health benefits of being outdoors to help improve confidence, community resilience and spread the love of nature.

Elisa Briscioli from Nature Vibezzz said: “I think it’s good to stress the awareness on mental health and well-being this event raises, as this is the best help any household can have. I would love to see more of this with practical solutions.”

Along with free food and drink, different activities throughout the day provided entertainment including The Hive Community Choir and a laughter yoga taster session to showcase how laughter can improve mood.

The impact of increasing fuel, food, water and energy bills has had a disproportionate impact to families and communities who are already struggling to meet the basic needs in life which could result in an increase to health inequalities.

In South West London, 62,000 (1 in 10) households were in fuel poverty even before the recent increases in energy bills. Nationally, average household energy bills have risen from £750 per year in 2021 to £3500 per year.

We wanted to bring local residents, support and health & wellbeing projects together, under one roof but in a social and equitable way. Its easy to look at barriers and obstacles in hard times and anything that can soften and open relationships scan only be a good thing.”

Caspar Kennerdale, Managing Director, ClearCommunityWeb.

Following the success of the event, ClearCommunityWeb aim to host more help for households events, helping to support the local community during difficult times.