Cost of living: 'Warm haven' offers help for Newham families

Volunteers at Hope 4 Humanity prepare free food for visitors each week

Inside a community centre in Newham, east London, platters of rice, meat, beans and desserts are prepared by a team of volunteers.

Music is playing and board games are laid out on tables ready for an afternoon of activities.

There's a party atmosphere as people start to arrive and greet each other affectionately.

This is a "warm haven" - a place run by charity Hope 4 Humanity where people can gather in a heated venue and enjoy some free food for a few hours.

Yasmin visits the warm haven with her children

Saima brought her children to Katherine Road Community Centre for the afternoon. She said families used to get together at each other's homes but people could no longer afford to host gatherings.

"After corona and after rising costs, they never invite because prices are high," she said. "I'm very happy for this project… I can meet my friends here."

The service is open from 15:00 to 18:00 GMT on a Sunday and 17:00 to 20:00 on a Tuesday. It has about 70 people who attend regularly.

The charity also operates a food bank on Saturdays, which serves 300 people.

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Yasmin, who has four children, said her monthly rent had risen to £1,650 for a two-bedroom home.

"Rent, living costs, food — everything is high," she said.

In addition to the food and help on offer, she said the warm haven was a place for people to meet and share stories.

"I can speak with other families, because I have nobody here," she added.

Hope 4 Humanity was launched in response to impact of lockdown on the community, but demand for its services have not gone away.

Volunteer Simone Thompson said people often queued outside the community centre before the team opens the doors.

"There's people here before we get here which tells you something," she said.

Volunteer Simone Thompson said people often queued outside before the warm haven before it opened

Paru, who has two children, said the charity had been a lifeline for her family.

They use both the food bank and warm haven.

"We're struggling, food prices is rising every week," she said. "Before we buy 15 eggs for £1, now £1.70. Everything, milk, eggs, vegetables, meat, chicken, everything."

Junaid Ali, head of operations at the charity, said the number of visitors had been "noticeably increasing due to the rise in cost of living".

"Rents have gone so high - out of their affordability. And people are coming in saying they're facing eviction notices."

He added that running the charity and giving people advice now took up all of his time and he had never seen such a high demand for its help before.

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