10 tips to keep home warm and bills down
SUPERSTAR TRANSGENDER MODEL
AS a Bond girl and a pin-up known to millions as Tula, Caroline Cossey oozed glamour and had a glittering life in front of her.
She was working on a TV gameshow and was in international demand as a model.
That all changed when an undercover sting callously revealed to the world that she was born a man.
It was the early 1980s and she became the world’s most famous transgender woman – choosing to tell her remarkable story in the Sunday Mirror.
But life in Britain was to become too much after she was mocked by cruel sections of the press, attacked by a male fan and pounced on by a “lynch mob” bombarding her with personal questions.
RECLUSE
Fleeing the UK, she became a virtual recluse and swapped A- list parties – and Playboy photoshoots – for anonymity.
But now she is back in the limelight, buoyed by the rise of transgender women in the public eye. And in her first British interview for almost three decades, the ex-model from Norfolk again turns to the Sunday Mirror to tell her story.
She says: “In the 1980s, being transgender was like a death sentence – it still can be in certain countries.
“So when you had your surgery, you just put your head down and got on with your life. When I was outed, it was like I had been fooling everybody but that’s not how it was. I was treated like a criminal, like a hunted animal. I was destroyed overnight.
“At one personal appearance I was in the bathroom when a big guy pushed his way in. He closed the door and said ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything, I’m a fan’. Then to my absolute horror he assaulted me. I couldn’t speak, I was in shock. It was devastating and it upsets me to talk about it to this day.
“Experiences like that should never have happened. No one had the right to out me as being transgender but things were different back then.
“There was nothing I could do and my life was in tatters so I ran away. I hid from the limelight because it was the only way to feel safe. But things have changed and I look at other trans women in the public eye, doing well for themselves and commanding respect. I am finally ready to come back and hold my head up high.”
Caroline, 62, transitioned from male to female when she was 20. She says the assault was the catalyst for fleeing Britain. And she says her biggest heartache was not being
able to have children with her second WE ‘RE expecting the coldest winter for five years as many struggle to pay heating bills.
So here are 10 top tips to keep your house warm from Robert Marchand, founder of the Fuel Poverty Research Network and an operations management lecturer at Sheffield University.
Open your curtains wide to let sunlight in, but shut them when dark for an extra layer of insulation. husband David Finch, 51. It has been a difficult journey. When Caroline was working as a model, being transgender was not widely accepted.
“Outed” in 1981 – around the time she appeared in For Your Eyes Only with Roger Moore – she even contemplated suicide.
Caroline gave up a highly-paid job on TV gameshow 3- 2- 1 rather than face the hysteria whipped up in the UK. She says: “I couldn’t make myself a target by a appearing on TV all the time. The show was so successful it ran for 10 years. It’s amazing to think what my life would have been like if I’d stayed. All the jobs offered after my past was re v e a l e d
Set the heating to come on at a lower temperature half an hour before you get up rather than setting it high once out of bed.
Move your sofa, curtains or drying clothes away from radiators to ensure hot air can circulate.
Check your cavity wall and loft insulation is up to scratch to cut down on your bills. Energy suppliers often have insulation promotions with cheap or free installation. became based on my gender. It just felt wrong to be portrayed like a freak when I knew I was a normal girl. I literally walked away from millions of pounds to keep my dignity intact.
“I couldn’t even go shopping without being surrounded by people asking inappropriate questions. I felt vulnerable and exposed.
“I travelled the world doing interviews trying to show people that trans women were just normal women, not circus acts. I remember a particularly harrowing radio interview with US shock jock Howard Stern, when he dressed as a woman and made a joke about cutting off his penis. I felt sick to
Loose Women star India is amazing and Caitlyn Jenner called me for a long chat CAROLINE COSSEY ON RISING PROFILE OF TRANSGENDER WOMEN
Ensuring your hot water tank is properly lagged can save you up to £150 a year.
The World Health Organisation recommends living room temperature is now 18°C, compared to the old 21°C. Turn down that dial to save money.
Make you own draft excluders for doors. Seal doors and windows with rubber to preserve heat.
Set heating controls and thermostatic radiator valves to come on at predefined times, so you only use energy when needed.
If your boiler is more than 10 years old, upgrade it with a more efficient model. It can easily pay for itself by saving you up to £350 a year on bills.
Foil radiator panels reflect heat back into the room and are relatively cheap to buy and simple to install.