Banbury Town Council to offer £500 to organisations providing warmth this winter

The grant scheme will offer the money to enable local charities and other groups that operate in the parts of town where they are most needed to keep their premises warm over the winter months.

The money will be directed to organisations that already run daily or weekly meetings such as coffee mornings or activity sessions so that they can open more often or extend their opening hours to be able to provide more help.

Leader of the town council, Kieron Mallon, said: "We are inviting organisations to apply to our small grants scheme so they can run warm spaces that can be publicly advertised regarding location, opening times and accessibility, particularly during extreme cold periods.

"Warm spaces will be used and very much appreciated by people who can’t afford to have their home heating on all day, every day. Our grants are easy to apply for, just log on to the town council website or call in at the town hall."

The county council has made all of its libraries available as warm welcome spots, and the district council is working with local partners to provide spaces where residents can enjoy warmth and meet people over the winter.

A map produced in collaboration with the district council has been produced that shows all of the town’s warm spaces and can be accessed at the town hall or online at www.banbury.gov.uk.