Yesterday, Bristol Charities welcomed James Murray MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, to the Vassall Centre. Channel 4 was there to capture the visit and speak to us about electricity bills, the cost of living and the pressures facing our communities.
It was a valuable opportunity to bring those pressures into the conversation. We appreciate the steps the government is taking to ease household costs. Every little bit helps, and when people are watching every pound, even a small reduction in bills can provide welcome breathing space.
But the message from our communities is clear: it is not enough. Many families are facing a bleak winter, already stretched by the cost of essentials and worried about how they will manage the months ahead. It is the pile-up of energy, food, housing and everyday costs that makes life so difficult. A saving on one bill matters, but it does not remove the pressure of all the others.
For some households, the choice between heating and eating is brutally real. There is little room for an unexpected expense and no financial cushion to absorb another increase. As the colder weather approaches, families are making impossibly difficult decisions about basic needs.
One of our older community members shared that she cannot afford to put the heating on at all, despite having worked and carefully saved throughout her life. Instead, she relies on a heated blanket to keep warm. Her experience is a stark reminder of how little security a lifetime of work and saving can now provide.
These pressures reach across generations. Around 67,000 children across the West of England are living in poverty. In Bristol, the latest council figures show around one in four children under 16 living in relative low-income families after housing costs.
Behind these statistics are families managing severely constrained budgets. National research documents children going without essentials such as enough food, heating and suitable clothing, and arriving at school hungry, tired or worried. Such hardship can affect children’s wellbeing and readiness to learn, while cold and damp housing can also disrupt sleep.
The visit also brought attention to Props, which supports young people and adults with learning disabilities to develop skills, build confidence and find pathways towards meaningful employment. Its work highlights the pressures facing people who already encounter significant barriers to income, independence and inclusion.
Across our services and those of our partners, we see people working hard to manage circumstances that leave them with very little room to manoeuvre. We also see the dedication of staff and volunteers helping them through.
But charities are under pressure too. When household costs rise and public services are stretched, more people turn to the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. We are immensely proud of the work our sector does to support people who fall through the gaps, but we cannot fill every gap indefinitely.
The organisations communities rely on need sustained support themselves. With funding especially difficult to secure, we must also rethink how we work: how we share resources, build partnerships and make support more sustainable.
As part of that response, Bristol Charities is working with the West of England Combined Authority and FareShare South West on a multimillion-pound Regional Distribution Hub to rescue and redistribute food and essential goods to households in need. By bringing investment, infrastructure and practical support together, it will form an important part of the region’s response to poverty.
Yesterday’s visit mattered because it created space for these realities to be heard. Listening must continue beyond the visit, and what communities are telling us must help shape the response.
We welcome measures that ease the pressure, but we also have a responsibility to say clearly when that pressure remains too great.
People are not asking for luxuries. They want a warm home, enough food, a safe place to live and a little security. As winter approaches, too many are unsure whether they will have even that.
If the measures announced offer breathing space but still leave families unable to afford the basics, what more can the government do to ensure our communities can get through this winter?
