Fuel poverty hits record high in Essex town
In Witham, Braintree, 3836 households (9.4%) live in fuel poverty
We're hearing from a retired Essex pensioner that she'd be "absolutely lost" without a warm hub in Witham, Braintree, a town in Essex that has a hit a record high of people in fuel poverty.
5\0 percent of low-income households, of £29,500 or less, say they are in fuel poverty, new research shows.
More than a fifth (21%) admit that while they haven’t received government support in the past, they now feel they need it, according to Opinion Matters.
In Witham, numbers of people in fuel poverty are lower than the national average with 10 percent of all-income households in fuel poverty.
Jane Allen runs the Centre of Warmth hub there, which provides warmth, activities and advice on energy efficiency, debt, and benefit entitlements.
They open from 10am-2pm Monday to Saturday every week, and have 120 individual visitors everyday.
Mrs Allen tells Greatest Hits Radio they are "inundated" with people, and will need more donations if they're going to "stay afloat".
"We see pensioners, young people, and families who are all not turning their heating on, not turning their electricity on.
"Pensioners, particularly, are all resorting to microwave meals because it's cheaper to cook a meal for 2 minutes in the microwave than in the oven."
The Centre of Warmth provides electric blankets and head torches over the Winter.
In the Braintree district, over 25 percent of households are deprived in one dimension on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD).
Mrs Allen adds, with Rachel Reeves' recent welfare cuts, they're expecting "numbers to grow and grow".
"We've got a lot of people on disability benefits, with really quite serious ailments, and they are so worried now about what is going to happen to them.
Government analysis shows 3.2 million households will each lose an average of £1,720 a year due to welfare cuts.
The cuts will be felt most keenly by those eligible for personal independence payment (Pip), 800,000 of whom will lose £4,500 a year on average.
Additionally, from April 2026 - new claimants of the health element of universal credit, will receive £50 a week, almost half of the current £97 pounds.
Angela Byers was a visitor at Witham Centre of Warmth and is now a volunteer.
She says "it's a lifeline for so many".
"I felt absolutely lost after I retired, I had no idea how to fill out the benefit forms, but the people here helped me so much.
"I felt like I lost my purpose, and here I've fount it again."
Over 700,000 people have visited a Centre for Warmth since programme started in 2021.
Cadent, who run the Centres, will open its 350th Centre on 27th March 2025.
There will be a second Braintree Centre open on 28th March 2025.