In Britain, ‘warm hubs’ emerge to beat soaring energy costs

Thousands of warm hubs have sprouted across Britain as high energy bills fuel a cost-of-living crisis. One of them is in the foyer of the Other Place theater in Shakespeare’s birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon, offering a cozy refuge from winter. The Royal Shakespeare Company set up the hub to welcome people one day a week who may be struggling to heat their homes because of sky-high energy prices. Warm hubs, like Britain’s food banks, are a crisis measure showing signs of becoming permanent. Utility bills for many are set to rise by another 20% on April 1 when a government-set price cap goes up.