‘I come to the library to keep warm’: Norfolk residents battling fuel poverty

theguardian.com:

Every weekday Andrew Murkin comes to Downham Market library for books, wifi and – most importantly – warmth.

Murkin, who is 63 and receives disability benefits, lives in a bungalow in the Norfolk town and as his energy bills rose this winter he decided to heat only one room for two hours a day.

“In the winter I come to the library to keep warm,” he said. “I like to get up early. But sitting at home is miserable in the cold.”

At weekends, when his local library is mostly closed, he has few options. “In winter I just sit at home with my coat on and a duvet on,” he said. “I’ve been wearing two T-shirts, two jumpers and a coat inside. A lot of my friends do the same.”

The plight of Elsie, a 77-year-old who ate one meal a day and travelled on buses to stay warm, became emblematic of the cost of living crisis after Boris Johnson was confronted with her story in a Good Morning Britain interview. Her case has highlighted the challenges faced by older people unable to meet the cost of rising bills.

In Downham Market, near King’s Lynn, the library is a lifeline for older and vulnerable people looking for somewhere warm to pass time without spending money.

The south of the town has the ward with the highest proportion of pensioners in England and Wales, with 57% over-65. Many of them rely on the library.

Murkin is the first person to arrive at its Just a Cuppa session on Friday morning, a weekly event offering free tea and biscuits.

He used to work as a welder before problems with his diabetes and mobility two years ago made that too difficult. “It’s hard getting by on the money you get on benefits,” he said.

He has moved his bed into the living room so that he only needs to heat one room. “I go to bed a lot earlier than I used to just to