An appeal fund has been started by Buckinghamshire Council to help people facing a cost-of-living crisis. It is working with the charity Heart of Bucks; about £17,000 has been raised to date. Martin Tett, its Conservative leader, said the county had some ‘relatively affluent’ people; he was asking them to make a donation for those struggling to get through the winter. Through the Helping Hand programme, advice, financial help, and information is being offered to people ‘to cover the food and energy costs to households in crises. He said, ‘In the council area not everyone is literally down to their last farthing. If you can afford it, if you can help other people, to help them get through the winter, particularly struggling pensioners and people on very low incomes, we'd like you to consider making a donation towards our crisis fund.’ The council also has Welcoming Spaces programmes, opening libraries for people to spend the day somewhere warm.