09/12/2016
Winter Warmth Appeal 2016
In this section
Winter Warmth Appeal 2016
'Winter is coming....'
Please donate your £200 winter fuel payment so that Energy Solutions can help those that really need it this winter.
For any Game of Thrones fans, the phrase 'winter is coming...' will be familiar. It is always communicated with a sense of dread and foreboding. Thoughts of enduring cold, forced isolation from friends and neighbors and the unspoken threat of a shadowy foe. This same sense of dread and foreboding is felt by the millions of vulnerable households living in fuel poverty in England.
Struggling to survive on a low income, living in a cold draughty home with poor insulation and an often inadequate heating system. The onset of winter is a diffcult time for the 2.3 million fuel poor households in the UK. For many this period can mean having to make the choice between heating or eating, or the stress and worry that comes from falling into crippling debts with their energy supplier.
It's not just a matter of comfort, living in a cold home has serious implications. In 2014/15 there were a staggering 43,900 excess winter deaths, the highest figure since 1999/00. Approximately one third of these deaths were attributable to living in cold homes. It also presents a significant burden to our health services with an estimated £1.4 billion spent every year by the NHS treating health issues as result of people living in cold damp conditions.
Despite many people's perceptions, fuel poverty doesn't just affect the elderly. People with disabilities or long term chronic health conditions are severely affected by the cold. Many need warmer indoor temperatures to feel comfortable and they typically spend longer periods at home requiring more of their income to be spent on heating. Children are also particularly vulnerable. 1.5 million children in the UK are growing up in a cold home. This is known to have negative effect on physical and mental development and educational attaintment.
How can you help..?
The £200 Winter Fuel Allowance is paid to everyone born before January 1954. It's an excellent goverment benefit helping many vulnerable elderly people in the UK stay warm through the winter. But for the better off amongst you, doing without this benefit will probably not have a huge impact on your life. Energy Solutions could use this money instead to support someone who really needs it. Be it a struggling family helping to keep their prepayment meter topped up, enabling us to continue our energy debt and tariff switching comnunity workshops or pay for emergency heaters and keep warm packs.
If you don't really need your Winter Fuel Payment please donate £200 now to Energy Solutions so we can help more people that really do. Your donation could quite literally save someone's life this winter.
Support us
Make a one off or monthly donation and see what an impact you can have
Donate now
