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 our Money Advice service.
Or you can visit the East Ayrshire Money website for free and impartial advice and support if you are experiencing issues with benefits and money https://eamoney.co.uk/
We will regularly post useful information on https://www.facebook.com/atriumhomeskilmarnock/ - if you don’t follow us already please like our page.
Here’s what we are doing to support our tenants this winter
We are hosting a Christmas Craic(ers) & Chat drop in session for tenants on Thursday 12th December 2024 (2 - 4pm); please drop in for a chat and to pull a cracker with the team.
We have CoCo the Atrium Elf on hand this year to help us with our various activities. CoCo works closely with the Community Connector and will be a regular feature on our social media, keeping everyone up to date and making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible.
CoCos’ first task is to make sure that all of Atriums’ Tenants are on the “Good List” for our Annual Christmas Advent Calendar from the 1st to the 25th December. One lucky tenant will be randomly selected every day to receive £50 of supermarket vouchers to help with the cost of Christmas. Hopefully the winners will be able to join us for a mince pie at our Christmas Craic(ers) and Chat drop in afternoon to collect their prize!
The rest of our Elves are working away too and will be in touch with our Over 75’s again this December. Please keep a look out for a letter in the post or a knock on the door from one of the team with a special surprise!
The Atrium team, with the support of some of our contractors, are donating a selection of new ‘cosy’ items this year. CoCo will distribute these to some of our most vulnerable customers to help them Stay Cosy and anything that isn’t used will be donated to a local charity in the new year.
CoCo and the Elves are also managing our ‘WELFare Fund’ and may be able to help anyone who is struggling this Christmas with any welfare matters.
We are part of the Goodthings Foundation National Data Bank and can issue FREE SIM cards (Vodaphone, O2 and 3 Network) to people aged 18+ and have limited access to data either at or away from home.
You can pick up Hey Girls products from the office. This scheme aims to eradicate period poverty and is free to access.
If you need our help with any welfare matters, or more information on how to access the services on offer, please get in touch by:
Telephone: 01563 528 816
Email: info@atrium-homes.co.uk
In person: by dropping into Atrium House (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday)
As a reminder of our commitment to helping our tenants, here are some of the things that we have done previously:
Through the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations, we secured funding from the Scottish Housing Fuel Support Fund. This allows us to issue new Atrium Tenant packs which include a variety of items such as duvets, pillows, radiator panels and air fryers. Since April this year (2024) we have issued 32 packs.
Our Money Advice Service are always on hand to offer help to our tenants and had helped 28 new and 29 existing tenants to make a total of 117 benefit claims this year (Since April)! One of the team said “a simple phone call can make the world of difference to you or your household income”.
We issued £50.00 payments 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 2023 to April 2024 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 building is 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
Money Saving Expert
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/christmas-savings/
