Help this summer

The latest from our cost of living campaign, Easing the squeeze:

As well as local food banks, there are a number of community pantries and cafés in North Herts that offer ‘rescued’ food – items that are perhaps past their best but still perfectly edible or just surplus to requirements. So you can grab some cheap grub and feel good about saving food from landfill.

The Hertfordshire Holiday Activity Programme, aka ‘HAPpy Activity Camps’, is run by Herts Sports Partnership for children and young people who attend a local school and are in receipt of benefitsrelated free school meals. They provide healthy food and fun activities during the main school holidays.

As the weather improves, some churches, community centres and facilities will continue to open their doors as welcome spaces for anyone to attend. Previously known as ‘warm spaces’ to save you from putting your heating on, they provide a range of services including a quiet place to sit, board games and if the weather gets hot some might have air conditioning!

With money tight, your broadband and phone might be something you consider doing away with – but there is support to lower your broadband and telecoms contracts. Firstly, are you out of contract? Ofcom reports that millions of people are out of contract for their phone, broadband and pay-TV, so could get a better deal. Additional help is also available for people claiming Universal Credit, Pension Credit and some other benefits, but a significant amount of people eligible for these tariffs don’t take advantage of them. There are a number of comparison sites which Ofcom accredits to help you make an informed choice and get the right deal.

www.north-herts.gov.uk/squeeze for more detail on the above and lots more cost of living help and advice.