News. Cover image: Protesters demand warm homes in Wales, via Climate Cymru
On Saturday Climate Cymru held a day of protest in Cardiff as part of a nationwide Warm Homes campaign, co-ordinated by Friends of the Earth.
Campaigners protested outside the UK Government offices in Cardiff Central square from 11 am, to call for emergency support for vulnerable households, scaling up insulation and its efficiency, and more homegrown renewables.
People held up cardboard cutout silhouettes that were painted black and placed them around the outside of the building, alongside ‘Warm Homes for All’ banners. The silhouettes were there to represent the 300 people in Wales who died last winter due to living in cold, leaky homes.
Viv Thomas, a Cardiff resident who has a prepayment meter and who supports the campaign, talked about the difficult circumstances she faces as winter temperatures drop.
“My situation this year, like any other year, is to look forward to a cold, damp house. I am wrapped in blankets and sleeping bags, because for years the Council has refused to replace my noisy, faulty boiler which at the time was 20 years old,” she said. “I ran up standing charge debt because I didn’t use the boiler and gas hob, and which now I am unable to clear.”
“When I put money on the meter, it just gets swallowed up with the price hike and standing charge debt. Although I work full time, my weekly money is swallowed up as I have been forced to live without gas for many years. I have heaters which I can shut myself off in a room, and just heat that. I cannot afford to downsize because of the rent increases. I suffer mental and physical health issues. It is hard to survive everyday, and I take nothing for granted. Things need to change.”
Bethan Sayed, spokesperson for Climate Cymru, said the group was demanding immediate action after there was 285 excess deaths in Wales last winter caused by living in cold damp homes.
“We’re approaching the worst winter months and many Welsh people will be finding it tougher than ever with bills double what they were in 2020/1,” she said, “and families will have built up energy debt over the past two years so they have even less funds to fall back on.”
She called for action from both the UK and Welsh Government in supporting vulnerable households and said that the UK Government needed to provide £11.8bn of extra support for those who need it, including a programme of sustainable debt relief.
Emma Jones, who is a Local area coordinator for Neath Port Talbot Council and runs many warm hubs, opened up about the perilous situation facing some of the most vulnerable people this winter.
“Through my role as Local Area Coordinator I am often contacted by members of the community who are desperate for support,” she said.
“Often people are in need of food parcels and other essentials. A lot of people tell me they are dreading this winter as they are struggling to pay bills.”
Haf Elgar from Friends of the Earth Cymru, who are leading on the United for Warm Homes campaign said that ‘Around 45% of households in Wales are in fuel poverty, and at the beginning of another winter we cannot have people forced to choose between eating and heating.
Sarah Rees from Oxfam Cymru, a partner of Climate Cymru added that it is “unconscionable that while fossil fuel companies are making billions of pounds of excess profits, people across Wales are facing sky high energy bills, leaving many simply unable to heat their homes this winter. “
“The Welsh Government must do everything in its power to make sure everyone is warm this winter: including by urging the UK Government to finance the action needed to both drive down emissions and keep homes warm by implementing a series of common sense taxes on the biggest and richest polluters. As temperatures fall, our political leaders must turn up the heat on those most responsible for the climate crisis we all face; acting decisively to build the fairer, greener Wales we all want to live in.”
