Appeal to help keep elderly warm and safe this winter
Fuel poverty affects people in Bath as well as everywhere else, and this winter it’s vital that older and vulnerable people stay warm and are protected.
According to the Office for National Statistics, 8,314 homes in Bath and North East Somerset suffered from fuel poverty in 2019, 10.2 per cent of the total, and that is set to rise this winter due to the energy crisis.
“It’s so often those with the least who bear the brunt of these crises,” said Suzanne Rolt, chief executive of the Quartet Community Foundation.
“This could be working families who were just about keeping their heads above water before the fuel price hike came along and now have to choose between food or heating,” she said.
“Or older people coping with health issues who always struggle to heat their homes as temperatures start to drop.”
Quartet are preparing to meet a potential emergency crisis head on, with the help of local charities, community groups and voluntary organisations across B&NES.
“Over the last 18 months we’ve seen just how effective local organisations can be in responding at speed to a major crisis, offering support to the people we live alongside,” said Suzanne.
“To do this we need your help,” she said. “So we’re asking people to consider donating their Winter Fuel Payment, or to make a one-off donation, to help make a real difference to so many vulnerable people this winter.”
Quartet is asking those who feel they can afford it to donate their Winter Fuel Payment, or to make a financial contribution, to help local vulnerable people. Last winter alone this appeal raised over £16,000 for local projects.
The foundation is conscious of the additional pressures on local charities and the people who rely on them.
Many families who were already struggling to make ends meet are facing a perfect storm as fuel and food prices rise just as incomes are squeezed further.
In response they are expanding their Surviving Winter appeal to benefit even more people, including struggling families as well as the many thousands of local older people in need.
The money is channelled through local groups such as:
■ Bath & District CAB, who received a grant to supplement a winter fuel poverty funding pot to benefit people aged 60-plus;
■ Carers Centre B&NES, who received a Surviving Winter grant to help them provide additional support. This includes more telephone support to older carers who experienced social isolation during Covid 19;
■ The West Of England Rural Network who received a grant for their Community Oil Buying Scheme.
One grant last year, to the Centre for Sustainable Energy, helped them offer a combination of grants and advice on how to save energy, and signposted the older people to financial assistance such as the warm home discount, water bill discount, or benefit increase.
Since 2011 the Surviving Winter appeal for the West of England has awarded grants to more than 90 local community projects.
■ To donate to the Surviving Winter appeal visit: https://quartetcf.org.uk/donate-now.