Harborough charity to offer a warm welcome to families facing rising energy bills this winter

A community crèche in Harborough is offering vital energy savings advice this winter.

Home-Start South Leicestershire has been awarded an £8,000 grant from the National Grid to tackle fuel poverty.

As part of the Warming Up Home Start project, the charity will add infra-red heaters to warm up its ‘terribly cold’ community crèche in Coventry Road. The warmed up space will be used to welcome families to discuss and receive financial and energy advice, as well as wider support from trained volunteers.

Charity manager Stella Renwick said the team was ‘delighted’ by the funding to start the project.

She added: “We are terribly cold in this lovely building of ours and we want to make it a warm venue to match the warmth of our staff and volunteers. They make a difference to the families with pre-school children who use our premises for group support and training, as well as the volunteers who receive essential training to give one to one support to families at home.”

The grant funding is part of National Grid’s £5 million Community Matters Fund which is supporting 700 local groups across the Midlands, South West and South Wales to fight fuel poverty this winter.

The Grid’s director of corporate affairs Chris Hayton said: “Unfortunately, we know that many people will struggle to keep their homes warm this winter. At a time when addressing fuel poverty has never been more critical, our Community Matters Fund will support local groups to deliver help where it’s most needed.”