Warm services for cold homes

Belinda Le Lievre (top) and Tammy Prescott were at yesterday's Cosy Homes Exposition representing...
Belinda Le Lievre (top) and Tammy Prescott were at yesterday's Cosy Homes Exposition representing the Dunedin Curtain Bank, which provides free, insulated curtains to people who need them. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
Organisers of a ''Cosy Home Expo'' at the Northeast Valley Community Rooms did their best to make it inviting, with a bouncy castle out front and promises of warm soup inside.

''A big problem in Dunedin is people living in cold houses, especially in the Northeast Valley,'' organiser Fatima McKague said at the expo yesterday.

Mrs McKague is intimately acquainted with the houses of Northeast Valley - she has lived there for the past year.

''We moved into the cold side of the valley,'' she said, laughing.

''We didn't know when we moved.''

Mrs McKague is also working on a PhD studying ''fuel poverty'' - not having the money to afford proper heating - in New Zealand.

Yesterday's exposition, she said, was ''the first of this kind in Dunedin''.

''We wanted to raise awareness, so people would find out about the services available in the community.''

Alongside businesses that provide insulation and heating, certain community organisations were present, such as the Dunedin Curtain Bank.

The bank receives curtain donations from businesses and community members, and then re distributes them through social service agencies or to community service cardholders.

''We're here because curtains are an important part of having a warm home,'' treasurer Belinda Le Lievre said.

''Good curtains can be as efficient as double glazing, but curtains are incredibly expensive and many people can't afford them.''

Mrs McKague said that she hoped to hold a similar, exposition style event again, ''even more wider and broader''.

carla.green@odt.co.nz

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