Last week’s announcement on interest rates - coupled with rising costs bills for things like food – will make balancing household budgets still more difficult.

Our message throughout this cost-of-living crisis is that “help is out there”. This is thanks to a strong network of partners across our area who are working to support our communities. These partners include food banks, food pantries, Citizens Advice B&NES, Bath Mind, Age UK B&NES, Village Agents, St. John’s Foundation and all the organisations involved in the Community Wellbeing Hub, which you can contact on 0300 247 0050. The Village Agents provide a particularly vital service for our towns, villages and rural areas.

The Council have launched a new Discretionary Fund - a one-off payment to help with energy, bills, and other living costs. To qualify residents must have a permanent B&NES address, be over 18 and on a low income, not have sufficient money to pay for essentials and not have savings over £2,000.

The Council is using its Department for Work and Pensions Household Support Fund allocation for this scheme, which means that the number of awards that can be made are limited. Applications will be assessed in order of receipt. If this applies to you or someone you know you can find more information here beta.bathnes.gov.uk/apply-discretionary-crisis-fund or call the Welfare Support Scheme on 01225 477277 (Option 1).

I’d like to thank all the partners who are involved in our local response to the cost-of-living crisis. A big thank you also to everyone who gives their time to help others. For example, Shared Lives households open their homes and provide brilliant support for people from their local community who need some extra help. The Shared Lives Service needs more households to provide care and is urging people to consider becoming paid carers.

June has been a busy month. On June 19th the Armed Forces Day flag was raised in Parade Gardens and it was an absolute honour to be joined by Normandy veteran Stan Ford, from Bath.

22nd June was Windrush Day and we are inviting people to share their invaluable experiences and connections with the Windrush generation, whether that is personal anecdotes, family ties or other stories. These stories represent a significant chapter of our history and I am very much looking forward to reading them.

Finally, I would like to highlight a key local project to promote all the work that is going on locally to tackle the climate emergency. If you’ve added energy efficiency features such as solar panels, heat pumps or water recycling to your home, then there is an opportunity to showcase this as part of the Green Open Homes B&NES weekend in November.

More information on these initiatives and more can be found by following us on our social media channels. Please also visit our website www.bathnes.gov.uk .and sign up to our weekly e-connect newsletter for the latest information.