Johnny Thomson 00:01
According to a recent survey, almost a quarter of adults in the UK are saying there’ll be keeping their heating turned off this winter due to rising energy prices and the cost of living crisis. So what if anything can halls do to help? Hi everyone, I’m Johnny Thomson and welcome once again to The Village Halls Podcast sponsored by Allied Westminster, the UK’s largest specialist provider of village hall insurance, and the home of VillageGuard. Now, many people are worried about whether they’ll be able to afford to heat their homes this winter. However, in Suffolk, a group of halls has come together with a great way of helping out and I’m delighted to be joined today by Lizzie Kingston from Framlingham Unitarian Meeting House, who was going to tell us about their idea and a few other community-minded things they’ve been up to as well recently. Hi, Lizzie, lovely to have you on the show and how are you?

Lizzie Kingston 00:57
Hi Johnny, I’m good thank you and it’s a pleasure to be here. Thank you.

Johnny Thomson 01:01
Brilliant, now before we talk about keeping people warm and so on, tell me a little bit about you and the fabulous hall you’re involved in there in Framlingham, which I understand was built well over 300 years ago, right?

Lizzie Kingston 01:16
Yeah, that’s right. So Framlingham Unitarian Meeting House is over 300 years old and it’s home to a Unitarian congregation. I’m the venue manager and that means that I sort out the hiring of the venue, and I look after the inside of the venue. And I also work just with a vision that I would describe as the ministry of the building. So I’m always looking for ways to help reach out to our community using our beautiful sacred space.

Johnny Thomson 01:46
And, of course, one of the challenges that people are facing out there in the community now is heating costs. And it’s all creating a bit of a dilemma for a lot of people this winter, isn’t it? Should you should you turn the heating off? Save money? Or do you spend a lot and I mean a lot, keeping warm? It’s difficult times, isn’t it Lizzie?

Lizzie Kingston 02:07
Yeah, that’s right and we’re very aware of that. And really, I think as this winter hits, there’s gonna be people struggling. Everything that we’re doing at Framlingham Unitarian Meeting House is focused on serving the community, and finding a way to meet people’s needs. And at this moment, I feel that the coming winter is going to be hard and that is an opportunity for us to reach out and hopefully make a difference to people who are struggling.

Johnny Thomson 02:39
Yeah, to do you do your stuff. And with all this in mind, along with other halls as well, you’ve come up with a way of helping I understand, yeah?

Lizzie Kingston 02:50
Well, that’s right. Yes. So the meeting house here in Framlingham is already really busy. We have congregational activities, such as a cafe and a meditation circle and of course, our services. And we hire to musicians and artists, crafts with the makers market, a children’s drama group. But actually, all of those hirers come together and form our wonderful community, but we still have time in the week and space in the week where we thought we might try and do something a little bit different. So we’ve opened up the meeting house as a warm space on a Thursday between 10:30 and 3.

Johnny Thomson 03:31
And is that, that’s in conjunction with a few other community buildings as well in the area, is that right?

Lizzie Kingston 03:40
Yeah, that’s right. So it all started when… I was thinking about ways in which to help people over the winter, and I thought about opening up as a warm room over winter. And at the same time, coincidentally, my friend Nick from a local charity, our community, and the Reverend Chris Davey, who’s the priest in charge at our local Church of England church, contacted each other and me, and we’d all have the same idea within the space of a few days.

Johnny Thomson 04:09
Perfect.

Lizzie Kingston 04:10
So we got together with some community leaders and people from the other churches. So there’s St Claire’s Catholic Church and also the United Reform Church and other community spaces. And we talked about the best way forward. And so we’ve put together a rota, so there is a community space in Framlingham open every day for between three and five hours. And we decided to work together to advertise the warm spaces together, to share ideas and resources, and also to kind of support each other because we knew that what we were doing would be important and needed. And so we’re all collaborating on this opportunity to help the community

Johnny Thomson 04:55
And how’s it been going so far?

Lizzie Kingston 04:58
So it’s been, it’s been a really lovely start. I mean, we started with vision, you know this idea of hospitality, of openness, of serving our community and providing a safe and welcoming space for all. And so we’ve opened now for a month, we’ve had four Thursdays that we’ve been open for. We have two volunteers from our congregation there, the whole time. And we have bought puzzles and games, we’ve got tea and coffee and refreshments, we’ve just been given a microwave and a toaster. We’ve got lovely new sofas. So we opened up with a massive chalkboard that said ‘Come on in’ and actually it’s been, it’s been a pleasure. It really has. We’ve had between maybe six, eight, maybe up to twelve people in the room at any one time and other people popping in and out. Lots of them are people that we already know. And maybe about a third of them have been new people who’ve come in for the first time to see what’s going on.

Johnny Thomson 06:05
I guess that’s one big challenge isn’t it, is getting the word out there. Because, as you mentioned, you’ve people you already know but perhaps the people most in need are those out there who maybe don’t interact so much with the, with the community. So how have you been going about trying to try to identify and find those kinds of people as well?

Lizzie Kingston 06:26
I do think it’s hard and I think we’re at the beginning of our journey here. So we got in touch with the social prescriber at our GP surgery, because we know that the people who work at the surgery are going to be working with people who might be vulnerable. And just to let them know really, that this is an opportunity that’s available to them. If they if they’d like to leave their house and go somewhere warm and not have to worry about heating, then we’re here. And we’ve also, of course, put posters in all the usual places. And you know, if you walk into into Co-Op or the Post Office or the library, the posters are there, but actually, and on Facebook as well, which has had a really lovely reception. But I think actually probably the most important thing is that we’ve got a banner and a board outside and it just says it’s warm, there’s free tea and coffee, come on in. And actually, I think probably everyone who’s come in have been people who were passing by.

Johnny Thomson 07:20
Have just passed by and seen that. Fantastic. I guess another challenge is, is the cost to you. You have to pay for this for this heating as well throughout the winter. How are you finding that?

Lizzie Kingston 07:35
Yeah. So yeah, I think the messaging is the biggest challenge, but of course, we are making an investment financially in heating our building at a time when there isn’t a hirer in there. We’re very lucky that we have been given funding from the Wood Green Trust, which is a Unitarian charity. And I’m also working with Nick Cork from Our Community and looking at some other local funding opportunities as well. We’ve found the funding is out there if you know where to look and it’s worth searching for that funding. So that’s yeah, it’s been a challenge to think about how it’s all going to balance and it might be that we end up spending more money than we bring in with the funding. But that is very much part of our vision.

Johnny Thomson 08:20
Yeah. And I guess you’re also kind of spreading the costs in essence on you because you’ve got these other halls that you’re that you’re working with and kind of delivering this on a rota basis, yeah?

Lizzie Kingston 08:29
Yeah exactly, that’s it. So it is only actually five hours on a Thursday for this part of our Warm Welcome project. But yeah across the week, it means that there’s always someone somewhere warm in Framlingham.

Johnny Thomson 08:45
So it sounds like something that other village, church and community buildings across the country could start up themselves as well? And I’m sure many probably probably have already.

Lizzie Kingston 08:58
Yeah I think, I think that it would, it really would only need to be a couple of hours maybe. And with a sensible risk assessment with some attention paid to safeguarding, maybe with some ideas in terms of pointing people to help if they do come in and they are vulnerable. I think if that was in place, then there’s nothing stopping any of us really opening our spaces. And who knows where it might lead you know, maybe cool spaces in the summer might also be a thing.

Johnny Thomson 09:27
Yeah, cool spaces conjures up all kinds of different ideas. But I think that the great thing about what you’re doing is this point about sharing the burden as well. Perhaps some of the other places delivering on warm rooms haven’t haven’t thought about that, that they could do it in conjunction with other buildings and other halls and kind of pass pass it around and share their cost, which is great.

Lizzie Kingston 09:53
Yeah, definitely for sure.

Johnny Thomson 09:55
Yeah. And you’ve been helping another group people in need there in Framlingham as well understand Lizzie?

Lizzie Kingston 10:03
Yeah, that’s right. So our vision really was was always bigger than the warm Thursday. So we came up with this idea of a Warm Welcome as our project. And that was based on this idea that if you provide a space, then who knows what might emerge, you know, like what connections might be built. And this is this is really the idea is these kind of third spaces that aren’t work or home are kind of being lost a little bit and communities need these places really as the beginning of something greater. And that’s kind of what’s happened, because alongside our warm Thursday, we’re now working with friends of refugees Suffolk, in particular with Deborah Thomas. And we’ve put together a monthly cafe for local Ukrainian families who’ve come here in the last few months, of course. Suffolk is a rural county, lots of people who came over from Ukraine have been spread around Suffolk. It’s been quite hard to build those connections. And so once a month, on a Saturday, there’s an opportunity now for those people to get together to speak in their own language, to make connections that are going to be so so important for their resilience as a community. And one really lovely thing actually, that’s emerged from that is, that they’re now going to have the traditional Ukrainian St. Nicholas Day celebrations in our meeting house as well. And this is like this is just a real bright and kind of joyful family day that’s a little bit earlier. It’s on the 19th of December in the eastern calendar, and it’s just it’s time of gifts and food and family. And of course, it’s the first St. Nicholas day that the people we’re working with will have spent away from their home country. And so it will be a day of joy, of course, and a day of community and sadness, too. And we’re hoping to be there with them to help them celebrate that day.

Johnny Thomson 12:05
Isn’t that isn’t that great? Christmas is coming early, basically?

Lizzie Kingston 12:09
Yeah, exactly is it is for all of us here, absolutely.

Johnny Thomson 12:13
Nice for all the impatient people out there in the community who like to put the decorations up in November, to know that it’s coming on the 19th rather than 25th.

Lizzie Kingston 12:22
This is true. Very true.

Johnny Thomson 12:24
Brilliant. Well, well done Lizzie to all of you there at the meeting room. It’s more important than ever right now to help others in need, isn’t it?

Lizzie Kingston 12:36
Yeah, thank you so much. Yeah we really hope that there’s nobody in Framlingham who will be choosing between heating and eating. You know, there will always be somewhere that people can come along, there’ll be a friendly face, a cup of tea, a slice of toast and a chat. And it just feels really good at this difficult time when there’s a lot of uncertainty and I think we all probably feel a bit unsettled by what’s going on at the moment, just to do something kind of warm and open, and help people feel part of their communities.

Johnny Thomson 13:06
And we are entering the season of goodwill, of course. But we should think like that all year round, shouldn’t we?

Lizzie Kingston 13:14
Yeah, indeed, indeed. Thank you.

Johnny Thomson 13:17
Well, as I said, great stuff. And thanks for everything you’re doing in the community there Lizzie. Heartwarming stuff here on the podcast, as always.

Lizzie Kingston 13:28
Thank you very much.

Johnny Thomson 13:30
And that’s where we must leave things for this time. Next time, we’ll have a special episode for you announcing one of the Wonderful Villages Awards category winners. So make sure you tune in for that one. And don’t worry if you haven’t heard from us yet. The judges are still at this time reaching their decisions. So keep your fingers crossed if you’ve entered and you’ll be hearing from us soon. Many thanks to our headline sponsor and specialist insurance provider Allied Westminster for making our podcast possible, and whose services you can discover more about at VillageGuard.com. And to online booking system provider Hallmaster who also sponsor our podcast and can be found at hallmaster.co.uk. You’ve been listening to The Village Halls Podcast, a unique listening community for Britain’s village, church and community halls and anyone interested in the vital community services they provide. We’ll be back again soon with another episode, so please visit thevillagehallspodcast.com to subscribe, sign up for updates link through to our social media pages and to find out more. But until next time, goodbye for now.