We will do all we can to help the Burnley public | Burnley Council leader Afrasiab Anwar column

There was lots going on across the borough each week including the successful HAF programme, being delivered by local community and sports organisations.

A wonderful initiative giving children and young people the opportunity to try new things and make friends whilst giving parents and carers much needed respite.

With the cost-of-living crisis looming, all of us will have had one eye on what the autumn and winter have in store.

As a council we will continue to do all we can, within the limited resources we have to support our residents.

Working with our partners through the Burnley Together Hub it was great to see hundreds of families make use of the ‘Relove the Preloved’ uniform shop in Charter Walk Shopping Centre.

With soaring food and energy prices, families would have struggled with the added cost of new uniform, so the project was welcome news for many.

The volunteers and staff did a sterling job trying to help every family that came through the doors, but it would not have been possible without the support of all those who made donations. A huge thank you to all those who helped or were involved in any way, ensuring families could access uniform in time for the new term.

Over the past couple of months, the government has been sleep-walking into the cost-of-living crisis.

With a prime minister so out of his depth the only solution he could come up with was to advise us to purchase a new kettle.

Now a new prime minister is in office, the whole country will be anxiously waiting to see what plans are in place to tackle this crisis of pandemic proportions.

If the rumours are to be believed, then she will announce a package of support based on borrowing.

Rather than holding the energy companies to account and using their excess profits to freeze prices, it will be working people who will be asked to pay the bill.

Away from home, our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the floods in Pakistan. More than 1200 people have lost their lives in the devastation and whole villages have been washed away with over 33 million people affected.

The impact is unimaginable, with roads destroyed and bridges collapsing. The flooding caused by weeks of unprecedented monsoon rains and compounded by glacial meltwater are a reminder if we

needed one that we need to do more to tackle climate change.

This is a prime example of how poorer nations often pay the price for climate change largely caused by more industrialised countries.

It is time for the international community to take responsibility, particularly those that have profited the most from the use of fossil fuels.