As rising living costs continues to squeeze households nationally, Watford Borough Council has announced a cost of living emergency.
In response, the council has launched an online hub to help local people find support with food poverty, housing, debt, energy bills, unemployment and health and wellbeing.
The combination of rising inflation levels, increased energy prices and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has hit households hard, with many struggling to make ends meet. In Watford local voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise organisations have seen an uptick in demand with early signs of a challenging winter ahead for local people.
In 2021/22 Watford Foodbanks distributed food parcels at a rate of 9533 per 100,000 people (Trussell Trust, 2022). There are also many independent foodbanks also operating in Watford which means that this figure is likely to be much higher.
Elected Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor said: “We are working hard with our partners to provide support to help minimise the impact of the cost of living emergency. It’s important that residents and businesses understand that no matter how difficult their situation is, support is available via the council’s services and from our fantastic network of community groups”.
As the summer holiday approaches, Watford Borough Council is pleased to offer a free events programme to help keep the family entertained. This includes Watford’s Big Events, a series of themed events in fashion, drama, dance, sports, music and digital animation. The council’s popular Wat’s On programme returns this month with free drama workshops, sport activities, arts and crafts as well as courses in photography, videography, gaming, coding and website design.
For more information on cost of living support, visit https://www.watford.gov.uk/homepage/79/cost-of-living-support
To book a place on Wat’s On activities, visit www.watson.events
To find out more about events in Watford this summer visit www.watfordbigevents.co.uk/events
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