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Winter in South Oxfordshire  

Published October 2025

A guide to services and advice from the council, as well as local and national organisations, to help during the winter months. 

Winter activities and events   

There are plenty of opportunities to stay active and enjoy time with others this winter, with community walks, events, and activities taking place across South Oxfordshire. From local get togethers to performances and workshops, it’s a great way to keep moving and socialising through the colder months.  

  • See the Active Communities page to find local group walks and activities taking place near you, run by the Active Communities Team.  
  • This winter, Cornerstone and The Beacon have plenty to offer. Join a class, watch a show, or drop into our cafés for something warm. There’s something for everyone.  

Warm spaces   

When you’re out and about, as temperatures drop, local libraries, leisure centres, and other organisations are providing a warm welcome to communities across South Oxfordshire. You can find your nearest warm welcome space on the Warm Welcome website.   

Our Leisure Centres are also open as Warm Spaces. Pop in and charge your phone, have a hot drink and chat with others.  

Health advice for everyone – including those vulnerable to the cold  

The NHS has a dedicated page for winter health advice, including tips for keeping warm and well during cold weather. There is also a section on who is most at risk, which includes older people, young children, those with long-term health conditions, people on low incomes, and those with disabilities or mental health conditions. The page also includes information about getting your flu and COVID-19 vaccinations to help protect you this winter.   

At home 

Energy saving advice for homes and businesses  

You could make changes to your home or work building to make it warmer and cheaper to heat. Ideas include:  

  • Insulating, roofs, walls and floors.  
  • Draughtproofing doors  
  • Replacing windows that let heat escape  
  • Installing renewable energy, eg solar panels  

As well as making your building cheaper to run, by avoiding wasted energy through heat loss, the measures can also reduce carbon emissions and contribute to tackling climate change.   

Download the council’s energy saving information leaflet with lots of advice from local groups and information on where you can get financial help for these changes.  

Other sites for advice include the Centre for Sustainable Energy, Better Housing Better Health, the Energy Saving Trust and Low Carbon Hub.   

Preventing damp and mould  

Damp and mould can be a problem at this time of year with colder and wetter weather.  

We have some top tips on how to stop condensation building up in our homes and prevent mould growing. 

See our damp and mould pages for top tips.
See our short videos on YouTube we’re sharing on social media:
Cooking / Drying clothes / Air flow tips #1 / Air flow tips #2 / Showering    

Thermal camera available to identify heat loss in buildings  

Did you know the council has a thermal camera available for town and parish councils and community groups to use to identify heat loss in buildings? The infrared thermal imaging can clearly show ‘cold spots’ where insulation could help keep the heat in. If your organisation would like to borrow the camera (free) please contact the climate team at climateaction@southandvale.gov.uk 

Our Community Hub is here for you  

If you’re struggling financially or if you’re just finding life difficult, we can help. For practical support or just advice, get in touch:  Call our friendly Community Hub team on 01235 422600  
Email us communitysupport@southandvale.gov.uk  
  
We’re open 8.30am – 5pm Monday to Thursday, 8.30am – 4.30pm on Fridays.   

See our website for cost-of-living help and more including:  

  • free or affordable food support   
  • council tax support  
  • mental health and wellbeing guidance   

We can also signpost you to debt advice and other support.  

Extreme weather   

Flooding – be prepared  

Preparing for flooding includes simple things that you can do to help keep you, your home, family and business safe and save you thousands of pounds in damages and disruption.  

Do you know which items to move to safety in a flood? You won’t have much time to prepare if it happens. Learn the simple steps you can take to ensure you keep the things you love safe.  

Here are top tips from the Environment Agency on how to prepare:  

There’s also more information available on the Oxfordshire Flood Toolkit website.  

Emergencies such as power cuts can affect us all. You can find simple and effective steps you can take to be more prepared on the gov.uk website.   

Here are a few simple things you could do now to prepare for emergencies: 

  • Pack a few essential items in your car boot to make sure you’re ready in case of getting stuck in wintry weather – this can include a torch, in-car phone charger, warm clothes and blankets, high-visibility clothing, jump leads, food and drink, and a shovel for snow. It can also be helpful to keep a first aid kit in your car.  
  • Put together an emergency kit of items at home: Battery or wind-up torch, spare batteries, a first aid kit (or some first aid items), hand sanitiser and wet wipes, bottled water.  
  • Write down important phone numbers on paper.  

Supporting rough sleepers  

We actively work with people who are homeless, or at risk of becoming homeless, the whole year round. Every effort is made to help people move into long term accommodation.  

As an additional layer of support, we activate a severe weather emergency protocol (SWEP) during extreme weather conditions such as flooding or freezing temperatures.   

SWEP is emergency accommodation for anyone experiencing rough sleeping – including people who have no right to claim benefits or housing in the UK or who have refused offers of accommodation and support.     

If you see someone sleeping rough, or you are homeless and in an emergency situation you can call our housing needs team on 01235 422 410, or go to Streetlink’s website.  

Disruption to waste services  

If these is disruption to our waste and recycling services, due to adverse weather, such as snow, ice or flooding, we will post updates to our Changes to usual collections page – and notify people via our Bin Updates WhatsApp Channel and our other social media channels. 

Sign up to our monthly newsletter  

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