Coping with the Cost of Living Crisis
The Cost of Living Crisis is still impacting us all.
Energy bills are still going up, daily essentials are more expensive and some people are struggling to make ends meet .…. but help and support is out there.
Please give us a call on 01563 528816 if you would like some more information on help that is available.
Please also see the latest newsletter from East Ayrshire Council's Financial Inclusion Team which includes lots of helpful contact details and links to information.
Here is some of what we are doing to help our tenants this Winter
Over 75’s - The elves will be out and about and if you are 75 or over a special surprise will be coming your way - keep your eyes peeled!
Elves Annual Christmas Advent Calendar – Once again the elves will randomly select an Atrium tenant every day in December from 1st to 25th December and each tenant will receive £50 of supermarket vouchers, wait…… there’s an extra bonus this year due to Atrium celebrating 25 years - the elves will select 2 tenants each day, giving a chance to more tenants.
Elves January blues – The elves realise that January can be a difficult month for our tenants so they will also be doing the 25 days of January event! Again, an Atrium tenant will be selected each day for 25 days and will receive £50 supermarket vouchers too!
The elves will make sure that all Atrium tenants are on our Calendar list and will be selected at random, so there is no need for tenants to do anything you’re in the draw!
Elf Assistance – The elves are here to help everyone, if you need our help this Christmas with any welfare matters (benefits, food, paying the bills, etc) please get in touch, give us a call on 01563-528816 Monday to Friday or email info@atrium-homes.co.uk, or pop into the office Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. The Elves may be able to help anyone who is struggling this Christmas with something from our ‘Elf Fund’.
Here are just some of the things that we have done to help our tenants
We issued £50.00 payment directly to all of our tenants to help with the cost of fuel after receiving funding from the Scottish Housing Fuel Support Fund.
We were awarded a further £72,368.00 from the Social Housing Fuel Support Fund and issued vouchers of £75.00 to tenants living in homes with low energy ratings and for those who had a fuel debt. The remaining funds was distributed to our other tenants who received £42.50 each!
We distributed Heat, Eat & Light bags to tenants which contained energy efficient light bulbs, a hot water bottle, food stuff and a handy information leaflet containing a tasty recipe and energy saving tips! If you never received a bag and would like one, please get in touch.
We ran Cost of Living Surgeries from November to April within our office. Tenants who attended received advice and information on how to maximise their income and reduce their bills as well as a £10.00 supermarket voucher. We also had partners such as Citrus Energy and Ayrshire Credit Union attend and some tenants received low cost cooking appliances from Citrus Energy.
If you would like to carry out a quick benefit check on your own then you can do so by using the following link - https://benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/ If you think there is something you may be entitled to then please contact us on how you can apply.
We received 100 sim cards from Vodafone to distribute to our tenants and to help get them ‘digital-ready’. Each sim card has unlimited texts/calls and 40GB of data each month…get in touch if you would like one!
We provided a list of warm places for tenants all over East Ayrshire to attend. Tenants were also able to attend the daily ‘Warm Café’ at our office. Tenants could pop into our office for a chat, to enjoy some tea/coffee/biscuits, use free wi-fi and get assistance with any queries they had. We also had our ‘New2U’ project – a selection of lightly worn winter costs, clothing, and newly knitted hats – available on a first come, first served basis.
Please note, our office is still open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday should you wish to come in and use our wi-fi or just to have a chat with staff!
Over the Festive period, the Atrium Elves were as busy as ever with our Elf Advent Calendar Give Away – every day from 1st to 24th December, lucky Atrium tenants were randomly selected from our special Elf Advent Calendar, each receiving £50.00 supermarket vouchers.
As always, the Elves had a special treat for our older tenants with those over 75 receiving a gift of supermarket vouchers to help cover the cost of Christmas Dinner…or even a treat for themselves or their loved ones!
The Atrium Elves also provided some help for tenants who needed Elf Assistance make their Christmas merrier! (courtesy of our contractor CCG)
If you have any ideas how we can help our tenants or our communities then please get in touch on 01563 528 816 or email info@atrium-homes.co.uk
Useful Links
Citizens Advice Bureau – Cost of Living Initiative
https://www.cas.org.uk/spotlight/money-and-debt/easing-cost-living-initiative
Citizen’s Advice Bureau
https://www.eastayrshirecab.org.uk/
Ayrshire Credit Union
https://ayrshirecreditunion.co.uk/
East Ayrshire Council – Cost of Living Hub
https://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/Community/cost-of-living/cost-of-living.aspx
Christians Against Poverty
Call 0800 328 0006 or visit www.capuk.org/about-us/our-work-across-the-uk/our-work-in-scotland
BBC Food Guide – Cooking Within a Budget
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/collections/budget_dinner_recipe_and_ideas
