The coming crisis and community spaces

As the War in the Middle East drags on and the Strait of Hormuz seems a long way from being unblocked, attention is slowly but surely turning to the likely impact on the UK economy and society. And as Leigh Brimicombe from National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) eloquently explained on BBC breakfast the other day, charities are squarely in the firing line. As the Director of the Warm Welcome Campaign, a network of over 6,300 community spaces across the UK, here are a few things I am thinking about and trying to prepare for.

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1) Energy bills for community spaces

Warm Welcome started during the last energy crisis caused by the Ukraine War, and from its inception one of the things we have heard consistently from people running community spaces is the challenges they face paying their energy bills. Not only are community spaces not protected by a government cap on bills in the way that households are, they are charged as ‘businesses’ and therefore given no relief or protection due to their social/charitable nature. Our friends at Social Investment Business have highlighted that some youth clubs are already spending more than half of their budgets on utilities bills and, if energy prices spike again, we could see a wave of community spaces having to reduce services or even close entirely.

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Unfortunately, this risk will not be an easy one to monitor. Whereas the cap on household bills changes every quarter and can be predicted in advance, community spaces are all negotiating their energy bills individually. Those who locked in a long-term price before the war in Iran started might be fine, but those who have to renegotiate now or in the coming months will be at the whim of energy providers and what they are charging at that moment. We will need to be extremely vigilant therefore for signs of price rises and what that will mean, as this will be a wave that will hit community spaces at different times in different places.

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2) Energy efficiency and green technology

The case for upgrading community spaces has never been stronger or more urgent. This is something we are actively working with Social Investment Business, National Grid and others on – how can we unlock the resource needed to help community spaces get solar panels, battery storage, heat pumps etc. The benefits of this are twofold – not only does it permanently reduce bills for the Space, it also turns the Space into a green technology beacon for its community, encouraging households to use the same technology and thereby accelerate our collective journey to net zero. The government has earmarked significant resources in the form of the Warm Homes Plan, and we are hoping that some of this can be designed to serve this critical purpose of upgrading our community spaces so they can be fit for the future that is coming our way fast.

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3) The need for co-ordination

A systemic crisis requires a collective response. It’s heartening to hear that NCVO, National Association for Voluntary and Community Action (NAVCA) and other infrastructure groups have written to the government to spark urgent talks on the impact of the war on the charity sector. We are doing what we can to bring together organisations representing different types of community spaces – foodbanks, libraries, youth clubs, faith groups, community centres – to share notes and consider possible joint advocacy opportunities in the coming months.

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We are also convening funders and philanthropists in May in partnership with the Chelsea Foundation to help them consider how they can work collectively to invest in community spaces as essential social infrastructure. In previous crises we have seen valiant efforts to work across organisational and sectoral silos. This time we can see a possible crisis coming in terms of next winter, but we can’t afford to wait until it hits before we start to get around the table and explore opportunities to collaborate.

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Next winter could be the most challenging we have yet faced in terms of the cost of living crisis. People will need local community spaces that they can turn to and find help. Our job is to make sure that those spaces exist and are equipped to meet that moment.

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You can read government advice on events in the Middle East and impact on UK energy here.

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