Grants in Hampshire available to create warm hubs over winter

A shared activity might include playing bingo or other games

Money is being made available to help community groups and local charities set up a network of warm hubs this winter.

Hampshire County Council said grants of up to £5,000 would be available to create warm spaces where people can gather together.

The council said the hubs might be a regular coffee morning or provision of a shared activity.

It said it wanted to help its "most vulnerable residents".

Parish and town councils, as well as charities, can apply for the grants.

The county council said it would "welcome creative ideas and concepts" because it wanted to support communities "facing exceptionally difficult choices" over the autumn and winter.

The Triangle in Liss runs a daily coffee bar and sells homemade cakes at "very reduced" rates

Karen Feeney is the manager of The Triangle, a community centre in Liss, a village near Petersfield.

It runs a daily coffee bar serving hot drinks and homemade cakes at a "very reduced" rate.

Ms Feeney, who said she would probably apply for the grant, added: "We'd be able to extend our opening hours and stay open from 09:30 to 14:30 and give people some lunch, maybe a bowl of soup and a roll.

"If we can't do it for free we'd ask for a donation. I anticipate we'll get a lot of people in, we have a lot of older people who often don't talk to anyone else all day."

In Basingstoke, Kishor Patel helps run the Carnival Hall Community Centre which has a "beautiful large kitchen and two halls used by a whole range of people".

"We will apply for the grant, we need more equipment. While we have the building heated we want to maximise its use," Mr Patel said.

Jeremy Barber said he was at the "exploratory stage" of deciding whether to apply for a grant for the Plough Inn

In Longparish, near Andover, renovations to the ground floor community room of the Plough Inn are almost complete after the pub was bought by the village in 2020.

Committee member Jeremy Barber said he was at the "exploratory stage" of deciding whether to apply for the grant.

"We've got a room but we need help if we're going to heat it. We're not making enough otherwise, we can't afford to subsidise the warm hub scheme," he said.