On 3rd December 2022 the Warm This Winter campaign has announced it will convene a national Day of Action on fuel poverty. 

Groups and communities will come together and stage Warm This Winter events and actions in villages, towns and cities up and down the country in a display of people power showing the solutions to the energy crisis exist.

The Day of Action will bring together folk from across the climate movement, the poverty movement, health and disability campaigners, housing activists as well as the millions of people struggling to pay their energy bills. 

People can register their event or find an event near them online at warmthiswinter.org.uk/day-of-action

The day of action comes after more than 60 organisations wrote to the new Prime Minister demanding action on the energy bills and cost of living crisis including more financial and non-financial support for the 7m UK households currently in fuel poverty.

The letter goes on to call for the upweighting of benefits and urgent clarification of energy bills support available from April 2023, a massive programme of energy efficiency measures and the speeding up of moves to cheaper renewable energy.

The campaigners are supported by the new research for the End Fuel Poverty Coalition which showed 76% of the population think the Government is not doing enough to support vulnerable households this winter.

Tessa Khan, director of Uplift, said: 

“While our politicians have spent months fighting among themselves, the public has been watching this crisis bearing down on us. 

“It now demands urgent government action, which means more support for those who need it this winter, and the wholesale replacement of Truss’ implausible and wrong-headed plans for taxpayer-subsidised gas production with a government-backed programme to insulate homes and an acceleration of cheaper renewables. Pragmatism not ideology must be what drives this government’s decisions.”

Gavin Smart, CEO Chartered Institute of Housing, commented:

“Renters are being hit particularly hard by the cost of living crisis. Social landlords are doing what they can to support residents, but too often they are still unable to afford to heat their homes. We urgently need the government to commit to uprating benefits with inflation and guaranteeing energy bills support beyond April, alongside a national insulation programme, to reduce unaffordable bills in both the short and long term.”

Sarah Woolnough, CEO of Asthma + Lung UK, said:

“Untenable cost of living hikes are forcing people with lung conditions to make impossible choices about their health, with people already reporting a sharp decline in their lung health. Lives are at risk if the government doesn’t step in to help people with lung conditions, to provide more support for people on low incomes so they can afford to keep their homes warm this winter.”

Rachel Kirby-Rider, Chief Executive of Young Lives vs Cancer, said:
“Young Lives vs Cancer have been calling on the government for years to tackle the huge costs experienced by children and young people with cancer and their families. They are disproportionately affected by the cost of living crisis, and were already experiencing unmanageable costs before bills started to rise.

“When you care for a child or young person with cancer, you don’t have a choice whether to keep the heating on to keep them well. We urgently need an energy and cost of living plan that protects the poorest and most vulnerable – including children and young people with cancer.”