Into the Warmth

Following on from the success of our ‘Winter is Coming’ events over the past couple of years, our new events co-ordinator rebranded a series of pre and during winter event campaigns, shaped by the previous experiences.

In October and November, we ran four ‘Into the Warmth’ events. The new name and branding taking inspiration from Black Sabbath’s ‘Into the Void’ as a tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne, with the largest of our pre-winter events taking place in central Birmingham.

Across the four events, we had over 60 event stalls filled with local organisations offering a range of support to residents in a number of sectors including, health & wellbeing, family services, job training and skills, water bills, council, police, fire & rescue, migrant support, benefits advice, and many more. Each event was tailored to the local community with organisations and charities that worked in that area.

We had hundreds of people come along to the four events, held at the iconic St Martin’s Church in Birmingham, The Mander Centre in Wolverhampton, Stratford-upon-Avon Town Hall, and the Three Trees Community Centre in Solihull. We were able to give personalised one-to-one support to almost 100 residents on the day, with many more taking leaflets from ourselves and our partners so they know who they can turn to in times of need.

On the day, we had so many wonderful interactions with the local community: at our Wolverhampton event, we had multiple residents recognise the local outreach officer and come over to thank him for the previous support he had provided them with. Attendees were given information about who we are, and how we can support them as well as some tips on how to save money on their energy bill this winter. In some areas, like Stratford, we were able to process applications there and then for residents to benefit from local schemes like the Stratford Heating & Energy Bill Support Scheme and the Warwickshire Household Support Fund, which had residents leaving the event knowing that they would soon receive a payment of up to £500 towards their energy bills.

Overall, the events were well received and a lot of organisations had some great success stories of people that they were able to help at the event. The good news is that we are continuing the ‘Into the Warmth’ series with a mid-January event at Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Brierley Hill. If your organisation would like to attend then email communications@actonenergy.org.uk and, for residents who would like to come along on the day to see what support is available check out the details below:

Thursday 15 January

10:30 – 3

Merry Hill Shopping Centre, DY5 1SP

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