First Warm-ups confirmed…

The first two Warm-ups have been confirmed in Lewisham and Leeds! Watch this space for more announcements soon…
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Lewisham, London
Friday 27th January. Meet at Lewisham Town Hall, 6pm.
Facebook event

Poverty, poor housing, no insulation, social isolation, debts…all these conditions affect our ability to pay the bills. None of them are accidental.
With six energy companies controlling 99% of our energy supply in the UK, giving us the ‘choice’ of over 400 different tariffs, whilst hitting us with price hikes of over 15% last year, it’s clear we have no power to decide where our energy is sourced and how much it costs.
This has to change. Access to warmth, decent housing, and health should be rights not a privilege. At the moment, government and energy companies are preserving the market over peoples’ needs and our environment.
As part of the Fuel Poverty Action winter-warm up weekend of January 27th-30th, community activists in Lewisham will be gathering outside our local seat of government – Lewisham Town Hall for a creative, cheeky, awareness raising “warm-up” aiming to build momentum towards future activity on fuel poverty and other issues.
We’ll be bringing tea, blankets, our experiences of fuel bill nightmares and ideas on how to find ways forward together.
Let’s not shiver behind closed doors, come out and warm-in at Lewisham Town Hall, Friday 27th January, 6pm…
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Leeds
Friday 27th January, Location tbc
Facebook event
Fuel poverty is a public issue, not a private pain. One in four families in the UK is shivering, out of sight, behind closed doors. The government and energy companies may want to keep it this way, but we say this can’t go on.
In the UK, six companies are deciding how 99% of our energy is sourced, produced and priced. Under this monopoly, we have no say in these decisions, despite them having a major effect on our health and our climate.
So, we’re coming out with thermoses of tea and coffee, biscuits and snacks to hold a coffee morning. Together we will ‘warm up’ in the office of civic organisations and energy companies which are putting profits and cuts before people’s welfare.
Will you be there too?
Check back here or on the Facebook event for a location nearer the time…

How to Organise a Warm Up

What is a Warm Up?

Warm Ups have been used successfully by Fuel Poverty Action (FPA) to highlight fuel poverty and bring about change.  They are based on the principle that if we can’t afford to heat our own homes, we have a right to go into any public  space and keep warm there – and talk to passers-by, hold a speak-out, or a discussion, or a party!  In the past, FPA and allies have warmed up in public buildings including for example Brixton Library with tenants from a local council estate and Lambeth Pensioners Action Group and in a bank, shopping centres, a concert venue, and even the House of Commons lobby!  

Security guards at the location often do not want to remove people. During one Warm Up in Stratford Westfield the security guards refused to kick people out of the building, many of whom were elderly. Depending on where you go, it could be worth thinking about how best to make an appeal to the people who work there. 

Since the launch of the Energy For All Campaign, two national days of Warm Ups have taken place on December 3rd 2022January 21st 2023 and 1st/2nd December 2023. The January date helped to deliver the moratorium on the forced installation of prepayment meters which remained for nearly a year.

Below is a guide on how you can organise a Warm Up in your area.

STAGE 1 CO-ORDINATING

Forming a Coordinating Team

The coordinating team will make sure that all of the below happens. This is ideally one or two people only, who keep track of everything – this doesn’t mean they have to do all the work themselves!

The first step in forming the coordinating team is contacting the members of your local WhatsApp group. In a very large WhatsApp group, you may be able to simply leave a message in the chat and get a response. However sometimes single posts may go unnoticed, a good idea can also be to try messaging people individually. Remember in this early stage you only need 1 or 2 people to collaborate with you. We will look at forming a bigger group later.

Arranging first meeting

The next step is to meet with the coordinating team. This can be either in person, on zoom or via a phone call. The important thing is to keep it simple – people have different levels of availability so it may be unrealistic to find a time when everyone can meet.

Agenda for the first meeting

At this first meeting, you will need to pin down two things.

  1. a) potential location for the action
  2. b) who to invite to take part

It is a good idea to have these pinned down as early as possible, as making decisions like these in larger meetings can be difficult. 

STAGE 2 PLANNING

Picking a location

When picking a location there are a few things to consider. Picking a location should take into account the wishes of the groups you want to involve.

Lower Risk. These are public locations that you have a right to congregate in but you may be asked to leave:

          Libraries

          Town Centres

Medium Risk. These are private locations you are allowed to enter but will likely be asked to leave by the staff on some occasions security could be called:

          Lobby/foyer of local council building

          Department store

          Lobby of a bank

–      And plenty more options…

Places to avoid

          Hospital medical facilities

          Childcare facilities

          Places that shelter vulnerable people

          Religious centres

Remember that both security guards and police can be unpredictable and will sometimes act beyond their powers. New policing powers in England and Wales have also severely restricted protest rights.

Find information and Know Your Rights trainings, or request legal observers for your Warm Up at:

England & Wales – https://greenandblackcross.org/guides/.

Scotland – https://www.scottishactivistlegalproject.co.uk/.

Inviting people to participate

  1. a) Members of your local WhatsApp group(s).

Once your coordinating team has met and agreed some basics, you can go back to local group chats with a proposal, inviting people to get involved in the build up or on the day. If you don’t get many responses in the group, you may want to message people individually.

  1. b) Local Community Groups

The next step should involve inviting other groups into the area. Think about what groups are local to you and how they may be affected by rising bills

– Local charities

– Pensioners associations

– Faith groups

– Climate activist groups

– Local people through street canvassing, visiting warm hubs or food banks.

  1. c) Trade Unions

Many Trade unions have spoken out publicly about energy prices. If you are a member of a union contact your union branch and invite them along.  Your town may also have a Trades Council where local union reps meet and discuss supporting activities like this. Not all Trades Councils have a large web presence. The easiest way to find a trades council is by searching “The name of your town” Followed by “Trades Council  in google.   

Briefing

Ideally, this should happen a few days before the action. You may not be able to get everyone to attend but you need to have enough people come along to ensure people have been assigned roles and the action is carried out safely.

Briefing should cover

          Introductions

          Why we are here

          Safety points fire exits

          Assigning roles

          De-escalating

Assign roles

Spokesperson, This person is responsible for explaining why the action is happening. They could be talking to the local press, on a livestream, or to the people responsible for the building you are keeping warm in. 

De-mobiliser This person is responsible for ensuring the action ends safely. You will need to discuss in your groups how long you wish to stay in the building. When the De-mobiliser tells people to leave the action is over. Anyone who stays after this does so on their own accord.

Documenter Responsible for filming and taking pictures

Leafleter/s Handing out flyers, if you have any, explaining why you are there or what you think should be done. This can also be a good way to chat to people passing by.

STAGE 3 ON THE DAY

Press Release

Use and amend our Template Press Release to send to local media outlets. Make sure to contact [email protected] to inform us that your action is taking place.

This can be edited to fit the details of your local action and should be sent to local news outlets the night before as well as just after the action.

Be sure to include. 

  1. Pictures from the action (or a link to where pictures will be uploaded)
  2. Quote(s) from participants.

Bring signs and banners

Make sure your action is visible and creative. Could everyone wear warm coats and bring a thermos flask? Or a hot water bottle?

Think about what messages you want to get across. Examples include:

“Energy For All”

“Ban forced Prepayment Meters”

“Cold homes kill”

“Disconnections are Deadly”

“Freeze profits, not people”

“Energy is a human right”

Think of how to stay busy and entertained

You might want to bring instruments

Books

Arts and crafts

Cards or board games

Holding group discussions or speak outs

Singing, chanting or dancing

Deciding how long to stay

You should think about this in advance, and take into account the preferences of people taking part.

For example, the group could just go in for a photo op, stay until asked to leave by security, or push it further than that and refuse to leave.

Of course, the number of people who turn up may change how long you want to stay at your location – bigger numbers make you harder to remove!

Remember you are part of a larger national day of action and all contributions are valuable in getting the message out

Make a video and take photos

Make a short video explaining who you are and why you are doing this. Be sure to take lots of pictures.

Collect emails, take contact details

Be sure to tell people passing by why you are doing what you are doing. Ask people to provide email addresses and phone numbers so they can support future actions.

Share!

Be sure to share evidence of the action happening so everyone can see how far and wide the action is across the UK – Use our Social Media Toolkit for suggestions on what to post

  • On any social media accounts you have access to, tag FPA @FuelPovAction or @fuelpovertyaction
  • In WhatsApp chats

Our EDF Die-in on film…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SScF4lpw2qA&w=420&h=315]
In November, we died-in to mark the thousands of deaths last Winter caused by fuel poverty. Please share this film widely.
As the government cuts its Winter Fuel Allowance, and the Big Six reap in record profits, its now time to warm-up in January…
Find out more about the Fuel Poverty Action Weekend of Winter Warm-ups here, join and invite all your friends to the Facebook event, and keep your eye on @FuelPovAction on Twitter for updates…

Nationwide Fuel Poverty Action Winter Warm-up

Friday, January 27th – Monday, January 30th
http://fuelpovertyaction.wordpress.com
It’s January. It’s freezing. Christmas emptied the coffers and now the bills are starting to bite. As the Big Six energy companies rake in profits of 700% and the government freezes the fuel allowance, it’s time to tell the Big Six and the government that we’ve had enough!
Fuel poverty is a public issue, not a private pain. One in four families in the UK is shivering, out of sight, behind closed doors. The government and energy companies may want to keep it this way, but we say this can’t go on.
In the UK, six companies are deciding how 99% of our energy is sourced, produced and priced. Under this monopoly, we have no say in these decisions, despite them having a major effect on our health and our climate.
On the last weekend of January, Fuel Poverty Action will be heating things up!
We’re calling for people to come out of their cold homes and into the warm offices of the Big Six: E.ON, EDF, Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern, Centrica (British Gas), and Npower.
We can also warm-up at the town halls and housing associations, which are putting profit and cuts before people’s welfare.
Bearing flasks of tea and our own experiences of landlords that won’t listen, unaffordable bills, tuition fees, and debts, as well as cuts in services, benefits and working conditions, our winter warm-ups will be taking place wherever cuts are biting and warm spaces look inviting.
This is a call to anti-cuts groups, local youth and pensioner organisations, and anyone suffering in the cold this winter because they can’t afford the heating.
We can find ways forward, collectively, by making ourselves heard by the government and the energy companies. But what do we demand? Some things are clear: Decent shelter and warmth are a right, not a privilege. We should all have well insulated, warm homes and affordable bills that don’t make us choose between eating and heating. But how do we achieve this? What alternatives are there to a corporate controlled energy industry? How do we shift to sustainable, renewable energy? As we Warm-up we’ll be discussing these important questions and forming a plan to achieve it, come and join us!
Stop shivering in silence, let’s warm-up together!
Details of local actions will be announced here.
The January actions are just the beginning! Fuel Poverty Action is a group of the Climate Justice Collective, which is planning a mass action in late April / May. If you and your group want to get more involved, come to a planning meeting on Saturday, February 18th, 2011 in Oxford. Look out for an email or check the CJC website for more info closer to the time: http://climatejusticecollective.wordpress.com

50 Fuel Poverty Action protesters die-in at EDF…

Photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/70150038@N04/
Today, fifty protesters staged a ‘die-in’ protest at the head office of EDF, one of the ‘Big Six’ energy companies – protesters claim that the government and Big Six energy companies share responsibility for thousands of deaths caused by fuel poverty.

The protest was a response to new figures released by the Office for National Statistics this morning, which reveal that there were 25,700 excess winter deaths last winter in comparison to other seasons. Many of these deaths were due to the fact that people could not afford to heat their homes. Protesters claimed that the government was letting energy companies profit whilst leaving people to die in the cold.
The protesters carried a coffin, marked with the number of excess winter deaths, in a funeral procession from Parliament Square to the head office of EDF and ‘died’ on the ground outside wrapped in blankets and clutching hot water bottles under a banner reading, “Warmth to meet our needs, not for corporate greed”.
Samia Mitchell, a member of Fuel Poverty Action, said:
“Government and business are putting profits first and peoples’ lives second in deciding who gets to keep warm this winter. By continuing to support unsustainable fossil fuels over sustainable renewables, cutting the Winter Fuel Payment and shutting day centres, libraries, axing jobs and public services, millions are literally being left out in the cold. People shouldn’t have to decide between eating and heating. The ability to keep warm should not be dictated by how much money you have in your pocket. We want to see public control over how and from where our fuel comes from”.
– Fuel poverty is defined as expenditure of 10% or more of household income on fuel.
– According to the government-commissioned Hills Poverty Review, 2,700 people – a conservative estimate – will die this winter as a direct result of being ‘fuel poor’.[2]
– An April 2011 YouGov survey found that nearly 1 in 4 households (24% or 6.3million homes) were suffering fuel poverty. [3]
Jules Carpenter, a supporter of the protest, and mother of two, added:
“If the government supported a transition to renewable energy, people wouldn’t face this problem. Green measures are not the cause of high bills and fuel poverty – turning energy into a commodity and corporate competition to find cheaper, yet finite fossil fuels are. Green changes wouldn’t cost more if the government put climate agreements and health before bailing out the banks”
– Each of the six major energy suppliers in the UK raised their prices over the Summer of 2011.
– The government’s ‘Green Deal’ will insulate homes if customers are willing to sign up to what could be a thirty-year debt repayment. Critics point out, whilst insulation is necessary, it should not depend on ability to pay or stay in one property for decades. This is an unrealistic prospect for many single and low-income tenants.
The Fuel Poverty Action group, and other groups, are also planning a nationwide ‘warm in ‘ on the 27th and 28th of January which will see people occupying warm spaces, such as corporate buildings, in order to keep warm and highlight the injustice of energy pricing.
Notes to editors:
The Fuel Poverty Action group is a project of the Climate Justice Collective (CJC). The CJC has emerged out of Climate Camp UK. Fuel Poverty Action aims to expose the economic and environmental causes of fuel poverty and take action to realise energy democracy and climate justice. We are the 99%.
[1] Please contact 07542 358 310 for details of the location on the day.
[2] For the full Poverty Review see: http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/funding/Fuel_poverty/Hills_Review/Hills_Review.aspx
[3] http://bit.ly/s4NbSh

The Big Bill Die-in

Tuesday November 22nd
Meet 10.30 am, Parliament Square.


In the UK, thousands of people die every year because they cannot afford to heat their homes. The UK’s Big Six energy companies’ price hike mean five-year record profits for them (over 700% profit per customer) and cold homes for us.
Instead of supporting genuinely free insulation, proper housing, and alternative, democratically controlled energy systems, the government is helping its corporate allies maintain a monopoly on who gets to keep warm and how.
Society’s most vulnerable people including pensioners, babies, and people who are ill or disabled, face the toughest winter in years as the choice between heating and eating starts to bite.
These same energy companies are also relentlessly investing in fossil fuels at the cost of countless lives through climate change and pollution.
On Tuesday 22nd November, the government will announce its excess winter death statistics for 2010-2011, revealing the extra deaths last winter in comparison to other seasons. On this day, join Fuel Poverty Action’s funeral and ‘die-in’ to expose Big Six and government collusion.
We will meet at 10.30, Parliament Square and proceed to a Big Six target and use our cold and‘dead’ bodies to disrupt their operations. Bring a blanket..

We're having a teach-in…

The Big Bill: a Fuel Poverty Action teach-in
Saturday 5th November
12.30-17.30
Tottenham Chances, 399 High Rd, Tottenham, London, N17 6QN
In the winter, thousands of people die of the cold in Britain – a scandal in a country where power companies are reaping record profits, and £850 billion is spent on bailing out banks. A large proportion of the population do not have access to decent heating or good housing, and many also have so little money that it’s a hard choice between heating, eating, or paying the rent.
Launching the new group – Fuel Poverty Action – a project of the Climate Justice Collective, this teach-in will be an opportunity for climate activists, local organizers and everyone concerned about high energy bills to discuss what high prices and poorly insulated homes mean for all of us, and see what we can do to ensure that everyone has fair access to heating and electricity.
As climate activists, we do not buy the lie that fuel prices are inflated by the need for green energy. The same vampire companies that are hiking up prices are spewing out the greenhouse gases that threaten a climate catastrophe. All they care about is their own bottom line, while millions of families live in cold homes and pay even higher rates for their gas and electric than people in big warm homes pay on direct debits.
At the same time, energy companies are seeking out increasingly destructive ways to extract and produce energy like tar sands, shale gas, deep sea oil and gas, new nuclear, biofuels, opencast coal mining and mountaintop removal mining. A cleaner, sustainable energy economy controlled by people for people – not for profit – could release families from the dilemma of having to choose between food and warmth. Sun, wind, and tides will not run out, and do not cost the earth!
12.30: Introduction including “What is fuel poverty? And “what’s the climate got to do with it?” – with a chance to introduce what you have been thinking and doing.
1.00: Who pays? Living with high energy bills, bad housing, and unfair pricing policies.
1.30: Who gains? The market, the “Big Six” energy companies, who’s profiting from high fuel prices, government subsidies and greenwash, and Frankenstein Fuels
3.00: What can we do about it? Intro and group discussions. Including: Knowing your rights / Cooperative energy schemes / Exposing the profiteers and their friends in high places / Fighting for the right to a secure, draught-free, energy-efficient home.
5.00: What next? Including information on the 22 November Winter Deaths Demonstration, and moving forward with the campaign.
LET US KNOW
You are welcome to just turn up on the day, but it would be really helpful if you can let us know in advance if you’re likely to come, or if there’s something you’d particularly like to discuss, by emailing [email protected]
LUNCH
There’s a good Turkish restaurant/take-away just over the road (they do falafels!) Or please feel free to bring your own food or food to share – we know people will want to eat while we get to know each other during the introductory session. Hot drinks, snacks and a microwave will be available.
KIDS SPACE
Please let us know in advance by emailing [email protected] if you would like to bring children with you and we will do what we can to take care of their energy needs!
GETTING THERE
Tottenham Chances can be found at 399 High Road, Tottenham, N17 6QN. It’s near excellent transport links. A map can be found here: http://www.tchances.co.uk/
CRASH SPACE
If you need crash space for Friday or Saturday evening, let us know by emailing [email protected]
Organised by Fuel Poverty Action
http://fuelpovertyaction.wordpress.com/