Cost of living campaign: Crisis ‘new reality’ for Londoners

It’s been a background hum of dread all summer.

News notifications of creeping inflation rises, with doom-laden forecasts from politicians.

Supermarket spends ticking upwards, while your basket of shopping stays the same size.

And now bills - double or triple the size of last year - are beginning to land on our doormats.

This winter is set to be incredibly difficult for so many of us.

As journalists, our job is to explain these huge events.

From elections to earthquakes, we work to contextualise them, break them down and make them make sense.

To ensure readers, viewers and listeners can fit them into the wider landscape of their lives.

But sometimes, when it feels like everything has shifted, that landscape becomes unrecognisable.

It’s a story that is no longer simply one story - instead it’s a new reality.

Like the pandemic, the cost of living crisis is now a factor in everything we write. It affects everything.

There are the obvious places, like government and politics, from Westminster and City Hall to your local council; the health service; banking and finance.

Then there are the less high-profile.

Small organisations and charities reluctantly shutting their doors; swimming pools left a few degrees colder; pets abandoned whose owners can no longer afford their care.

And most importantly, it’s there in everything we all do - or don’t, or can’t do.

Families and parents struggling to make ends meet. Pensioners sitting in cold, dark homes. Local businesses forced to close.

At LondonWorld, we are part of this city.

Our reporters, editors and photographers use the transport network, pay our council tax, and enjoy the city’s brilliant events - right alongside our audiences.

We feel this crisis too.

And that’s why this campaign is so important to us.

Alongside our sister titles, we will be publishing a series of articles over the coming weeks.

We are calling for urgent action to be taken, starting with our demands for the new prime minister, Liz Truss.

But we are also asking you to tell us what you need - and how this global crisis is affecting you, on your streets, and in your homes.

LondonWorld and NationalWorld will be highlighting the cost of living crisis and its impact on our city in a series of articles over the coming weeks.

We will be calling on our leaders - in politics, business, and our communities - to step up for our city.

And we want to hear from you, our readers, about your own experiences.

• How are rising energy bills, fuel costs and food prices affecting your daily life?
• What worries you about the prospect of the winter ahead?
• And - crucially - where can the government help?

How is the cost of living crisis in London affecting you? Contact London World and speak to one of our reporters in confidence on [email protected] or via Twitter or Facebook.