MORE THAN 480 people attended Bromsgrove Library’s Cost-of-Living Fair last Friday.
Representatives from around 20 organisations were on hand to offer advice to people on how they could save on heating bills, keep warm and well and claim cash they were entitled to.
Among them were Act On Energy, Citizens Advice, Bromsgrove District Council’s benefits and financial team, the Basement Project, Starting Well, Age UK, Autism West Midlands and BARN (the Bromsgrove and Redditch Network).
There were also Ageing Well, the Shaw Trust, Seetec and Worcestershire County Council’s adult learning and employability team and Here2Help.
Cluster library manager Nicki Hitchcock said: “We had plenty of positive feedback from all the exhibitors and each one engaged with 20 to 40 individuals throughout the course of the morning.
“It was the first time Bromsgrove Library had held the event and it went really well.”
Nicki said that following the fair’s success, scaled-down ones for smaller libraries were now being planned.
She added that obviously with the smaller areas, there would not be room for 20 exhibitors but representatives who were part of the events could refer and signpost people to help them get the help and advice they need.
Bromsgrove District Council is currently running a cost-of-living survey.
People can visit bromsgrove.gov.uk/council/policy-and-strategy/consultations.aspx to fill out the five-minute poll.
With a rise in energy bills and day-to-day living expenses at an all time high, the authority is seeking people’s views to better understand their experience of the cost-of-living crisis, how it is affecting them and their household and asking how the council and other local organisations could improve the help, advice and support on offer.
