Warm Hubs and Warm Spaces

A warm hub, sometimes called a warm space or a warm bank, is a free, heated place in the community where anyone can spend time without spending money on their own heating. They are run by councils, charities and community groups, funded through local authorities, and they offer far more than a chair by a radiator: many provide practical help with managing bills, claiming benefits and accessing energy-saving advice¹.

The networks are substantial. Welsh Government funding for Warm Hubs reached £1.5 million in 2024 to 2025, building on a total of £4 million invested since 2022². Hubs are not a winter-only measure: they support communities throughout the year, not just during winter months, and individual hubs such as Canolfan y Bont operate all year round¹.

For a household, a warm hub is a form of energy independence that does not depend on your own meter, your own boiler or your own supplier. It shifts a few hours of heating and comfort onto a shared, publicly funded building. What it cannot do is change the fabric of your home, your tariff or your heating system. It is a supplement to household energy security, not a substitute for it.

What a warm hub is and what it offers

A warm hub is a welcoming and safe space for people of all ages, open without charge and heated for the benefit of those who use it¹. The defining feature is that it removes the trade-off between staying warm and spending money at home. The building is already heated, the lights are already on, and the cost falls on the organisation running it rather than the visitor.

What is offered varies with the size and ambition of the hub. At the smaller end, a warm hub is a room, a kettle and company. At the larger end, hubs help people access library services, health and wellbeing activities, housing and benefit advice, employment support, IT training, and services delivered by partner organisations¹. The Llandaff North and Gabalfa Hub is cited as an example of this fuller model.

The people running them matter to the character of the offer. Warm hubs rely on dedicated volunteers, working alongside council staff and charity employees¹. That mix shapes what a visitor can expect: a friendly welcome and local knowledge, with professional advice available either on site or by referral.

Warm hubs sit alongside, rather than inside, the formal energy support system. The Warm Home Discount, for instance, is a government scheme aimed at tackling fuel poverty in Great Britain, providing a £150 rebate off energy bills¹. A warm hub will often be the place where someone first hears about that rebate, or gets help applying for it, but the hub itself is not the scheme.

Over 400 warm hubs across the UK, funded through local authorities

The warm hub model is delivered locally but funded through a recognisable chain. Warm hubs receive funding through local authorities, which in turn distribute money from national governments¹. That structure explains why provision looks different in each nation and why the number of hubs is not published as a single UK-wide figure.

In Wales, the Warm Hubs programme has been the clearest example of direct national funding. Welsh Government funding of £1.5 million for 2024 to 2025 provided warm and safe spaces in the community, building on previous rounds³. A separate statement confirmed £1.5 million funding for Warm Hubs⁵. The total invested since 2022 stands at £4 million².

In Northern Ireland, the picture is more fragmented. Belfast City Council's cost of living and winter support pages set out the local offer, and 17 libraries across Belfast offer free and inclusive spaces, with a range of services including books, access to information, free events, Wi-Fi and internet access⁶. Libraries are often the most dependable warm space because they are already open, already staffed and already heated.

In England, warm hubs are typically funded and promoted by individual councils rather than through a named national programme. Cornwall Council publishes winter wellbeing guidance, and Birmingham City Council publishes energy bill help pages, both of which direct residents to local support⁷. The result is a patchwork: some areas have dozens of listed venues, others very few.

The practical consequence for a household is that there is no single national register. Finding a warm space means going through your own council, your library service or a community organisation, not a central government list.

£1.5 million in funding and £4 million invested since the scheme began

The funding figures for warm hubs are modest next to the wider warm homes budget, and the contrast is instructive. The Welsh Government's £1.5 million for 2024 to 2025 and £4 million since 2022 are the specific warm hub numbers². Against that, the Warm Homes Plan carries £15bn of committed funding, with £0.5bn allocated to the Warm Homes: Local Grant⁹.

That gap reflects what each pot is for. Warm hubs buy immediate comfort and advice. The Warm Homes Plan buys physical upgrades. The Warm Homes: Local Grant provides grants for energy performance upgrades and low carbon heating to low-income households living in the worst quality, privately owned homes in England, to achieve energy bill savings and carbon savings⁹. It is a government-funded scheme delivered by local authorities.

The scale of delivery on the grant side is large. 74 projects involving 271 local authorities, over 97% of eligible local authorities in England, have been allocated funding⁹. In London, the grant is delivered on behalf of 31 local authorities working together as a consortium, with total funding shared between local authorities based on the number of homes in fuel poverty in each area¹⁰. Liverpool City Council was awarded £5.8m to spend on improving the energy efficiency of approximately 450 homes over a three-year period¹¹.

Wales has its own parallel investment. The Warm Homes Nest scheme continues with more than £30 million allocated this year to help low-income households improve energy efficiency and access affordable heating solutions, and over £30 million has been allocated next year to fund energy efficiency, renewables and clean heat measures¹².

For a household, the distinction matters. A warm hub is available now, with no eligibility test. A grant is a capital improvement that depends on eligibility, assessment and a delivery queue.

Warm hubs run all year, not just in winter

The phrase "warm bank" suggests a winter emergency measure, and that is how many began. The current model is broader. Warm hubs support communities throughout the year, not just during winter months¹, and the Warm Hub at Canolfan y Bont is open all year round, operating four times a week¹.

Year-round operation changes what a hub can be. In summer, the same building offers shade, company, Wi-Fi and advice rather than heat. For households in flats that overheat, or for older people living alone, the social function continues when the heating function does not.

The funding cycle, however, remains annual. The £1.5 million figure is tied to 2024 to 2025, and each round is announced separately³. That means provision can change from year to year, and a hub listed one winter may not be running the next. Checking with the council or the venue directly before travelling is sensible.

There is also a wider policy context in which warm hubs sit. In Northern Ireland, work is actively progressing on a Warm Healthy Homes Fund to help make fuel poverty and cold, damp homes a thing of the past¹⁴. In Scotland, the Warmer Homes Scotland scheme has invested around £399 million and helped over 47,000 households across Scotland since 2015¹⁵. These are structural programmes; warm hubs are the immediate, human-scale layer beneath them.

Practical help with bills, benefits and energy-saving advice

The advice function is where a warm hub does the most durable work for a household's energy independence. Many warm hubs provide practical help with managing bills, claiming benefits, and accessing energy-saving advice¹. That help is delivered face to face, which matters for households who find phone queues and online forms difficult.

The topics covered mirror those of the formal advice services. NI Energy Advice offers independent and impartial energy advice to domestic householders in Northern Ireland, covering energy grants and support, heating and energy use, energy bills and fuel poverty support, damp, condensation and ventilation, insulation and home improvements, renewable energy, changing electricity or gas supplier, and heating-oil savings¹⁷. A warm hub is often the first point at which a household hears that such advice exists.

For households in England and Wales, Citizens Advice offers information and support on a range of topics, including struggling to pay bills, problems with your energy supplier or supply, saving energy at home and getting a better energy deal¹⁹. Where a complaint is difficult or urgent, Citizens Advice may refer you to the Extra Help Unit if you need support with a difficult or urgent complaint, cannot deal with your energy supplier on your own due to personal circumstances, are considered vulnerable, or are at risk of being disconnected from an energy supply²⁰.

The Energy Ombudsman also handles disputes that have not been resolved directly with a supplier²¹. Warm hub staff and volunteers can help a household work out which route applies.

What a warm hub cannot do is act as your supplier, change your tariff, or carry out work on your home. The advice is signposting and support; the decisions and applications remain with the household.

Extra services at larger hubs: libraries, health activities, IT training and employment support

The larger hubs have evolved into multi-service community buildings. They help people access library services, health and wellbeing activities, housing and benefit advice, employment support, IT training, and services delivered by partner organisations¹. Each of these has a bearing on household energy, directly or indirectly.

Employment support and benefits advice affect income, which is the strongest determinant of whether a household can afford to heat its home. IT training matters because a growing share of energy support, from grant applications to supplier account management, is delivered online. Health and wellbeing activities connect to the well-documented relationship between cold homes and poor health.

Libraries are the backbone of this wider network. In Belfast, 17 libraries offer free and inclusive spaces, with a range of services including books, access to information, free events, Wi-Fi and internet access⁶. That combination of warmth, connectivity and staff support is hard to replicate elsewhere at no cost.

Printed information still plays a role. Winter Wellbeing Guides are available in paper copies from council information points, GP surgeries, NHS premises, libraries and other partner sources, plus downloadable copies⁷. For households without internet access, the paper route is often the only one.

The pattern across the UK is that the smallest hubs offer warmth and company, and the largest offer something closer to a one-stop support centre. A household looking for help with bills, health and work at the same time is better served by a larger hub, where partner organisations are present on set days.

Who to call for energy advice: Citizens Advice and National Energy Action helplines

Two national helplines carry most of the formal energy advice load, and both are free to call.

Citizens Advice can be reached on 0808 223 1133 in England and Wales, open Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, with a Welsh language line on 0808 223 1144²². In England there is also a separate number, 0808 144 8844¹⁹. The service covers struggling to pay bills, problems with your energy supplier or supply, saving energy at home and getting a better energy deal¹⁹.

National Energy Action can be reached on 0800 304 7159²¹. It offers advice and support to help people across England, Wales and Northern Ireland stay warm and manage energy costs, and provides free advice about energy bills and keeping warm and safe at home, along with benefits advice and income maximisation²¹. A British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter can be requested⁸.

In Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland Energy Advice Service can be contacted on 0800 111 4455, open 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday²³. NI Energy Advice offers free advice on saving energy in your home, energy efficiency grants, and oil buying clubs, plus referrals to energy grants and other sources of help¹⁷.

There is an unresolved point on Welsh language provision. One source gives the Welsh language number as 0808 223 1144, while another gives 0800 702 2020.

Why warm spaces matter: fuel poverty in context

Warm hubs exist because a substantial number of households cannot afford to heat their homes adequately. Fuel poverty relates to households that must spend a high proportion of their household income to keep their home at a reasonable temperature⁴. National Energy Action estimates 6 million households are in fuel poverty³. The Warm Home Discount is aimed at people who are in or at risk from being in fuel poverty¹, and the Warm Welcome Spaces project lists tackling fuel poverty and energy affordability as a strategic priority area²².

What is not in dispute is the direction of policy. The Warm Homes: Local Grant aims to reduce fuel poverty and support Londoners through the transition to net zero, improving energy efficiency in thousands of homes across 31 boroughs¹⁰. Nationally, the grant targets low income households in private housing in England, including off-grid homes²⁴. The Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund provides government funding for local authorities and social housing landlords to improve the energy performance of social housing in England²⁴.

The Warm Home Discount has expanded alongside. The scheme provides low-income and vulnerable households with a £150 rebate off their energy bills, and it is aimed at people who are in or at risk from being in fuel poverty¹. It is a government scheme aimed at tackling fuel poverty in Great Britain¹.

Warm hubs sit at the sharp end of this. They are the part of the system that requires no eligibility test, no application and no waiting list. For a household in a cold, hard-to-heat home, that immediacy is the point. The dependence that remains is real: the hub is someone else's building, funded by an annual grant round, and it does not improve the home you return to.