East Cambridgeshire hub offers place of comfort amid cold snap
Temperatures are set to stay low heading into next week
As the cold weather sticks with us, people in one part of Cambridgeshire are keeping themselves warm thanks to their community hub.
A yellow cold health alert's already been issued for the East of England by the Met Office and the UK Health Security Agency until Friday.
But the Met Office has warned a blast of colder Arctic air is set to hit the region next week.
Rachel Dennis is the lead volunteer at the Haddenham Social Hub:
"It's a friendly space for people to come and feel comfortable; no one should be at home on their own worrying about things," she said.
"We try to keep the humour and we do have a laugh; this is really important and this is a basic thing people should have in their daily life.
"There's nothing worse than being on your own, at home, worrying whether you can put the heating on and we want to provide this space where people can come along and talk to other people that may be having similar issues."
Barbara is a user of the Haddenham Social Hub, one of several hubs coordinated by the Cambridgeshire ACRE charity.
She told us what the biggest impact of going to the hub is on her.
"I know it's here and if I need to come, I can come; if I'm walking, somebody always says 'hello Barbara, are you alright?'
"I'm sure that would be for everybody."
The Met Office has predicted snow showers could be seen next week, although the East looks set to avoid these.
Cambridgeshire County Council has issued some tips on how to keep your home warm:
- fitting draught proofing to seal any gaps around windows and doors;
- making sure you have loft insulation and if you have cavity walls, make sure they are insulated, too;
- insulating your hot water cylinder and pipes;
- drawing your curtains at dusk and tuck behind radiators to help keep heat inside;
- making sure your radiators are not obstructed by furniture or curtains.