I've gone about 11 weeks or more without proper meals.
The cost of living, I feel like it has increased a bit and it is quite hard.
You're earning less and you end up paying more.
It's very concerning, it's concerning for many, many people around here
to tell you the truth.
When someone struggles really bad,
other people, who are already rich, they become even richer.
You're used to your bills going up, but
not in the way they are now.
It's just ridiculous.
Friends of the Earth has identified Bradford as an energy crisis hotspot.
Homes are largely uninsulated,
average bills are very high, and the average income is low.
I think the energy crisis hit in August where normally we would be quite quiet.
So lots and lots of people are saying
they're struggling with their bills and heating and electric.
In the past it might have been a struggle, but vaguely doable, whereas
now it just feels completely, just not doable for most people.
I can't imagine,
you know, really, coming home and coming to a cold house,
not even being able to afford to put the kettle on to have a cup of tea.
You can't cook the food, can't have a warm meal,
can't use hot water to wash your hands.
You know, that's a pretty miserable existence, really,
especially if you're living on your own with nowhere to go and no one to see.
I’ve had first-hand knowledge about,
you know, people struggling to make ends meet, really.
And I don’t think the government has got an answer to it.
It's going to be a hard grind I would think, for a lot of people,
until things start to change.
So this is the cellar.
This is where all the beer is kept.
So we have cask beers...
In Shipley, north of Bradford,
business owners are also struggling with the rising cost of living.
When we started Hullabaloo, it was going to be an ongoing project.
It was hopefully going to be going forever.
So I received the direct debit, which was taken out of my account,
which was £1900.
So the price increase had nearly trebled.
What am I going to do?
How I'm going to move forward?
Obviously my family are upset because I've had quite a lot of health issues, which
this is completely exacerbating.
My little boy said, so daddy, when are you going to have a heart attack?
And I was like, I think it's time to call it a day.
It's the end of the road, really.
The energy crisis has really affected us,
it's quite a worrying time because we don't make a lot of money.
We're paying at least an extra thousand pounds a month
that we just have to find from somewhere.
When the bill came through and it was £1700,
it made me sit down and really think about what I was spending my time doing
because I do this to provide something positive in the local community
and I don't want to feel like I'm working for the energy companies.
If you look at the overall profit margins that you make,
how many times can you stamp on somebody before they stop trying to get up?
It's just unsustainable.
Like, honestly, you will just see your restaurants,
your cafes, your bars disappear.
If it's frightening, it's terrifying.
A lot of the more interesting, independent businesses will fall by the wayside.
It just feels like we're going backwards
in terms of social mobility and equality.
We could be in a position where we were using a lot more renewable energy,
and we’re not.
If we don't act now, then we're just going to find ourselves
in deeper and deeper trouble going forward.
This is a form which shows what we need to be giving to people.
This is a form for a single person.
This is the dry food which they will get to cover them for three days.
They'll also get some fresh fruit and vegetables.
And that will, we’re giving them parcels to see people through for three days...
I'm Tony Bosworth.
I'm a campaigner at Friends of the Earth in the Warm Homes campaign,
and I'm also a volunteer at Bradford Central Foodbank.
The Warm Homes campaign is trying to find solutions to the energy bills crisis
and to the climate crisis because they're one and the same thing.
The solutions are the same.
We're trying to say that what we need to do
is to be getting less dependent on oil and gas and using more renewables,
but also helping people cut their energy bills by giving them better insulation
so they don't have to spend so much on their energy.
Friends of the Earth wants to see insulation rolled out street by street across the country.
That'll help people cut their energy bills and also cut carbon emissions.
In the short term what we also want to see is help for people over the winter
so that people aren't having to choose between heating and eating.
I know our country has rallied in crises before
to help other people with compassionate responses and generosity.
And I think we can overcome these challenges.
We just need enough people to care.
It's about how much you care and about how much you value justice and courage.
People want solutions to the energy bills crisis,
they want solutions to the climate crisis.
I'm hopeful because we've got solutions which are easy to implement,
are popular, and will solve both crises.