Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
HEATWAVE HITS - help vendors work safely with a summer support kit
Buy a kit
Activism

Warm This Winter: Charities form campaign group to fight cost of living crisis

Greenpeace, Oxfam, Save the Children and other groups are calling for immediate government action as the price cap hits £3,549.

Warm This Winter

Activists protesting against energy companies' profits in February 2022. Image: Alisdare Hickson/Flickr

Leading charities have formed a new campaign group called Warm This Winter to demand action from the government on the energy bills crisis.

Launching on the day the October energy price cap has been confirmed as £3,549, Warm This Winter is calling for support for struggling households, a rapid expansion of renewable energy, and a program of insulation for Britain’s homes.

The group, which is made up of charities including Greenpeace, Oxfam, and Save the Children, also wants the government to stop approving new oil and gas fields.

“We all deserve to be warm in our own home, but right now soaring energy bills mean that many millions of people will struggle to pay their energy bill. It doesn’t have to be this way,” a statement on Warm This Winter’s website read.

“The UK has the means to solve the energy price crisis – but it will take action from the government. We’re demanding the UK government helps those people who need it now and fixes the UK’s broken energy system for good.”

Anti-poverty and environmental charities make up the bulk of the 23 groups currently signed up to Warm This Winter. Others involved are the RSPB, End Fuel Poverty Coalition, petitions group 38 Degrees, and the Women’s Institute.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty
Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

It joins a growing number of coalitions formed to demand government action on the escalating crisis.

Don’t Pay UK, which is aiming to muster one million people to refuse to pay their bills on October 1, says it has signed up over 100,000 people so far and is holding a protest outside Ofgem’s London office on Friday evening.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has launched the Anti-Poverty Coalition, which includes The Big Issue, warning that half the UK’s population could fall into fuel poverty. As a last resort, Brown has called for energy companies to be temporarily nationalised if they cannot provide affordable energy.

Advertising helps fund Big Issue’s mission to end poverty

Feeling the heat?

It's even tougher on the street. Could you buy a summer support kit for £35 to help vendors work safely in the sun?

Recommended for you

View all
Renowned photographer Misan Harriman on Black Lives Matter, Gaza and finding hope in protest
Protest

Renowned photographer Misan Harriman on Black Lives Matter, Gaza and finding hope in protest

Whatever happened to Make Poverty History?
Make Poverty History

Whatever happened to Make Poverty History?

As the government moves to ban Palestine Action, are terror laws being used for 'political policing'?
Yvette Cooper
Protest

As the government moves to ban Palestine Action, are terror laws being used for 'political policing'?

Disabled protesters say they'll stop Labour's benefit cuts – or die trying: 'I will fight my heart out'
Protesters in Cardiff outside their local MP's office with a sign saying 'welfare not warfare'
Disability benefits

Disabled protesters say they'll stop Labour's benefit cuts – or die trying: 'I will fight my heart out'

Most Popular

Read All
Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits
Renters: A mortgage lender's window advertising buy-to-let products
1.

Renters pay their landlords' buy-to-let mortgages, so they should get a share of the profits

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal
Pound coins on a piece of paper with disability living allowancve
2.

Exclusive: Disabled people are 'set up to fail' by the DWP in target-driven disability benefits system, whistleblowers reveal

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over
next dwp cost of living payment 2023
3.

Cost of living payment 2024: Where to get help now the scheme is over

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know
4.

Strike dates 2023: From train drivers to NHS doctors, here are the dates to know

Support our vendors with a subscription

For each subscription to the magazine, we’ll provide a vendor with a reusable water bottle, making it easier for them to access cold water on hot days.