# The warm room is open again, every day until March

Armchairs by the radiators, tea, the papers and company, from 10:00 to 16:00 every day. Nobody asks why you came.

2 November 2026 · Aisha Rahman, Canal Hall coordinator

From Monday 2 November the back of the library is the warm room again: four armchairs by the old radiators, a table with tea and biscuits, the day’s newspapers and, most afternoons, a volunteer who knows where everything is.

It is open every day from 10:00 to 16:00 until the end of March. You don’t need a library card, an appointment or a reason.

## Why we open it

Last winter 2,140 people used the warm room, about thirty a day. Some came because heating a flat for a whole day costs more than they have. Some came because a day alone is long. Most came for both, and stayed for the tea.

> “I come for the radiator and stay for the crossword. By three o’clock there are four of us doing it.”

## What’s there

- Tea, coffee and biscuits, all day, free.
- The newspapers and the library’s magazines.
- A phone charger, and the Wi-Fi.
- The advice desk ten steps away, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday mornings.

On Wednesdays the soup lunch in Canal Hall is at noon, a minute’s walk through the back door.

## Helping

The warm room costs about £12 an hour to run, most of it heat. If you can give, [the about page](/about/#give) says how. If you can give an afternoon, tell Aisha at the hall.