You are invited to the launch of Into the Cold, a public exhibition exploring cold homes in Britain and the historic fight for heat.

The launch will begin with warming refreshments and an introduction to the exhibition from co-curators Rebecca Wright and Kathy Davies. A panel discussion and Q&A will follow, exploring the history of fuel poverty and how responses to cold homes have changed over time.

Together, the discussion will address one of the exhibition’s central questions: Who is Responsible for Keeping Britain Warm?

Event Programme

5pm – Warming refreshments

5.15pm – Introduction to the exhibition

Rebecca Wright and Kathy Davies

Co-Curators, Northumbria University

5:45pm – Panel discussion and Q&A

Who is Responsible for Keeping Britain Warm?

Confirmed speakers:

David Green – Co-founder of National Energy Action and Executive Chairman, International Council for Sustainable Energy

Brenda Boardman – Author of Fuel Poverty: From Cold Homes to Affordable Warmth (1991) and Emeritus Fellow, Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford

More speakers to be announced shortly.

Visitors are encouraged to explore the exhibition at their own pace before or after the event.

About the Exhibition

Into the Cold: Britain’s Long Fight for Warmth explores the history of cold homes in Britain and how people and organisations have fought to keep warm. From the national hypothermia crisis in the 1960s to the pioneering work of Neighbourhood Energy Action in the North East, the exhibition traces the long struggle against fuel poverty and the enduring challenge of heating British homes.

The exhibition is curated by Rebecca Wright, Kathy Davies, and Nick Stromberg as part of Carbon Bodies: Warmth and Fuelling Health in Britain, 1918–2022, a Wellcome-funded research project at Northumbria University.

Into the Cold: Britain’s Long Fight for Warmth will be on display from Monday 5 October to Wednesday 24 February.

Description supplied by the event organiser.