West and East Horsley are joining together to help those facing tough decisions whether to heat or eat. No doubt we are all aware of the cost-of-living crisis that we are living through – it’s on the news every day, and with mortgage rates increasing so dramatically, we may all start to feel the pinch. In some cases, it’s quite possible that our income might not match our outgoings anymore. As the news has talked about, with the fuel costs escalating this might mean needing to cut back on heating.
In the depths of winter, that is a terrible decision to have to take, and so, to assist those struggling to heat their homes, we are joining the national move to create Warm Welcome Spaces for local people to use. These places will be warm and welcoming, but equally important they are free to use and staffed by volunteers to ensure safety and will have facilities to provide free hot drinks.
Three of our churches already run Warm Welcome Spaces as they have open-to-all coffee mornings each week - St Martin’s and the Methodist Church (both on Thursday) and St Mary’s (on Friday). At St Mary’s, we have decided to expand the current opening hours (10.30-12) so that over winter the Wheelhouse (82, East Lane) will stay open throughout Friday afternoon until about 5pm providing hot drink making facilities and over lunchtime (1-2pm) offering a simple lunch of soup and rolls.
Other local organisations are also making warm space available at other times in the week for the period of the coldest weeks over the next few months. The Wheel of Care run a couple of activities that they are happy to open to anyone needing warmth (and you don’t need to participate, just come and have a cup of tea and warm up), and the Horsley library is a warm space open to all during their regular opening hours.
We plan to publish up-to-date lists of all Horsley Warm Welcome Spaces on the Parish Council websites so please do check what’s available, and there will be notices around the village too. Please, if you are one of so many struggling with the costs of heating your home, come and use these warm spaces. You will be very welcome.
Current Weekly Warm Welcome Spaces are:
| Monday | Horsley Library 2-5pm | Parade Court, Ockham Road South |
| Tuesday | Horsley Library 10-1, 2-5pm Wheel of Care Scrabble Club 2-345pm | Parade Court, Ockham Road South Wesley Room, Methodist church, 97, The Street, W Horsley |
| Wednesday | Wheel of Care Seated Exercise 1015-1130am | Cedar Room, W Horsley Village Hall, 99, The Street, W Horsley |
| Thursday | Coffee Morning 1030-12noon Community Coffee Morning 1030-12noon Horsley Library 10-1, 2-5pm | Methodist church, 97, The Street, W Horsley St Martin’s church, Ockham Road South, E Horsley Parade Court, Ockham Road South |
| Friday | St Mary’s Wheelhouse Café 1030-5pm
(but 2pm every 3rd Fri of the month) Horsley Library 10-1, 2-5pm | The Wheelhouse, 82, East Lane, W Horsley
Parade Court, Ockham Road South |
| Saturday | Horsley Library 10-4pm | Parade Court, Ockham Road South |
This article was written by Andy Lewis, Churchwarden, St Mary's Church, West Horsley