Local communities and Birmingham City Council have opened ‘warm hubs’ in response to fuel poverty caused by the cost-of-living crisis. https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/11574860/ Under the initiative, the Warm Welcome network, faith and civil society groups and businesses are opening spaces across Birmingham to protect the most vulnerable people and offer help during the cost of living crisis. The warm banks will provide heat and host activities such as movie screenings and hot food and drinks. There are 1193 warm spaces in the UK, according to Warm Welcome. Birmingham City Council offers eight of those, including leisure and community centres, open daily. Cllr John Cotton, Cabinet…
Author: Tony Jarne
There are more Catholics in Northern Ireland than Protestants for the first time since Northern Ireland was created in 1921, according to new data. https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/11330256/ The data, from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), reveals that those who declare themselves Catholic or were brought up as Catholic now make up 46% of the population, while Protestant and other Christian groups make up 44%. When Northern Ireland was created Protestants made up nearly two thirds of the population. While the population of both religious groups has grown in number since then, the proportion of Protestants in the region has…
The number of properties exempt from certain housing rules in Birmingham has rocketed in the last few years. As residents in some areas complain about their concentration and authorities try to deal with the challenges, Tony Jarne looks at the conceerns — and what’s being done about the issue. Exempt accommodation is a kind of temporary housing that provides shelter for vulnerable people, such as recent prison leavers, rough sleepers, asylum seekers, homeless people with substance dependencies, and domestic abuse victims. Landlords receive the total amount of the rent charged, rather than the usual limits imposed on housing benefit. It…