Mansfield District Council brought together key partners across the district for its first Cost of Living Summit today, Friday 7 October.
The event comes after the authority officially declared a cost of living emergency during its meeting of the Full Council on Tuesday 20 September.
The summit, led by Elected Mayor Andy Abrahams, saw plans to immediately benefit residents, including a ‘Warm Rooms’ scheme and cost of living roadshow.
The meeting also saw keynote speeches from the Fuel Bank Foundation and Feeding Britain, followed by a group activity to capture challenges and gaps in the system that could be collaboratively filled.
Elected Mayor Andy Abrahams said: “Every day in the news, we hear more and more about the pinches on finances – but very little on what help is available for all residents now.
“Urgent and decisive action is needed to get the message out there, so we wanted to ensure the council remained on the front foot with this crisis. By hosting our first summit with all partners around a table in one place, we are demonstrating to our residents we understand their concerns and are working in partnership with others to get a plan of action that delivers for them.
“We can’t rely on any additional funding coming through; the work we do as team Mansfield together will help us formulate actions. I hope all our communities will benefit from the actions we bring together this afternoon.
“We are strengthening relationships between the council and our partners by being at the forefront of these events. These are unprecedented times, but I am pleased we acted swiftly and look forward to sharing more details about both schemes in the coming weeks.”
The Warm Rooms scheme will be a network of warm spaces open to people struggling to heat their homes over the colder months. These will run with the support of council partners including, Mansfield Museum, Oak Tree Leisure Centre and a range of community and voluntary organisations. More details of opening times for each venue and how the scheme will work will be announced in the coming weeks.
The Cost of Living Roadshows will see council officers and its partners out in the district signposting residents to where they can access support and advice. Partners on hand to help at each event include Department for Work and Pensions, Nottinghamshire County Council, Citizens Advice, Direct Help and Advice and Family Action.
Andrew Forsey, director of Feeding Britain, highlighted the challenges the charity was experiencing across its national network and listed three ways it will support the council during the coming months.
He said: “People are facing a triple threat to their living standards through higher energy bills, food and housing costs.
“My main fear has been that unless we can rethink and then reshape our approach to countering that triple threat, our country could rely again on more and more food banks and other forms of crisis provision.”
Andrew thanked the council for showing “leadership” at the event and “bringing people together.”
“We are going to need to support one another if we are to help people safely through these months ahead,” he added.
“As Feeding Mansfield, like the rest of our network, braces itself for the challenging months ahead, you can count on us for support on three fronts. Direct support for practical action across the district. Ideas and templates for increasing take-up of statutory support schemes.
“Finally, reconfiguring services, so they are truly accessible to local people, and they have a fighting chance of helping people stretch their budgets further.”
Matt Cole, director of the Fuel Bank Foundation, explained fuel poverty and reminded the group why action was needed.
He said: “Rather than providing crisis food, we provide crisis top-ups where the focus is on heat. Folk who are struggling are struggling in silence – they don’t want their kids to know, making it more challenging. There is both a practical and emotional impact to keeping everything going; this drives us.
“We have helped over 660,000 people in fuel crisis across the UK this year. So many people are experiencing this, and we can’t solve all problems, but by working together, we can target and help make it people-focused.
“People are losing the resilience they may have once had, and that is what we are trying to build back.
“We do everything we can through partners and acknowledge if organisations do something better, let’s work together and build on what is already there.
“I am excited about today as there are committed people with a track record of delivering in this room. We are also doing this now before winter comes and the crisis unfolds.”
The Cost of Living Roadshows will be taking place at the following locations and dates below:
• Mansfield Museum - Thursday 13 October, 5-7pm
• Warsop Methodist Church - Tuesday 1 November, 1-3pm
• Oak Tree Leisure Centre - Thursday 3 November, 5-7pm
• Stacey Road Community Centre - Monday 7 November, 5-7pm
• Trowell Court Community Centre - Tuesday 8 November, 1-3pm
For more information and advice visit the council’s dedicated cost of living web page – www.mansfield.gov.uk/costofliving (opens in new window)