Local Green Party campaigner David Dawson helped establish Cosy Thame to give residents practical support and advice on keeping their homes warm amid the cost of living crisis.
Working with Thame Green Living, Citizens’ Advice and Thame Town Council, Cosy Thame have given out free draught excluders for residents, organised a curtain exchange and arranged thermal imaging and drone photos of local homes to record heat loss through roofs.
David said, “We could see that this winter was going to be really tough for lots of people, so we decided to take action. We borrowed a thermal imaging camera from South Oxfordshire District Council, and my neighbour who’s a drone pilot took thermal imaging videos of the town from the air.”
In early March David hosted an event at Thame Town Hall to show the results. More than fifty Thame residents attended and nearly two hundred have watched the video stream of the event. David and the team on stage explained how residents can make their homes cosier, reduce their heating bills and reduce the town’s carbon footprint.
Meanwhile, Green councillors at South Oxfordshire District Council are leading efforts to make the council’s own buildings more energy efficient, and working with housing associations to push for warmer council homes. South Oxfordshire Green councillor Robin Bennett said, “The answers to the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis are the same. We’re working to ensure that local homes are warm, affordable and fit for the future.”
