Firm offers free fuel to elderly to help this winter
A CARMARTHENSHIRE fuel supplier has launched a new scheme which sees it deliver free heating oil to its most vulnerable customers this winter.
To ensure Wales’s elderly community stays warm over the colder months, Oil 4 Wales will offer a oneoff delivery of 800 litres of oil to its customers aged 80 years old or over.
The offer will run from October 2022 until March 2023 and will be exclusively for those who have been customers of Oil 4 Wales for the past two years.
Amid a cost-of-living crisis and with the increase in energy bills imminent, former managing director Colin Owens made this his final community initiative before handing the reins of the company over to his daughter Sally Williams.
Oil 4 Wales has allocated £75,000 towards the project but will review this if necessary.
The family-run business wants to ensure that it takes care of its most vulnerable customers by doing something “exceptional during these unprecedented times”.
Commenting on the heating donations, managing director Ms Williams said: “First we had the Covid-19 pandemic which had such a devastating effect on everyone, especially the vulnerable community, and now we have the exponential rise in energy bills to tackle.
“This is Oil 4 Wales’s chance to once again look after our customers and give something back.
“In light of this current landscape and now that the coldest months of the year are upon us, it is even more vital that the community pulls together and supports each other.”
Over the past two years, in a bid to decrease the burden of the pandemic,
Oil 4 Wales has made several contributions to its community.
These include a fuel delivery to a local charity, the Carers Trust Crossroads, which specifically benefited an elderly couple, acting as their son’s carer, throughout the pandemic.
In addition, following a request from Carmarthenshire Council, ongoing fuel donations of 500 litres were provided to local residents who care for their child following a diagnosis of Motor Neurone Disease.
Ms Williams added: “With the costof-living crisis placing increased money anxieties on our community, it is ever more crucial to act on our mission to ‘work with the community, for the community’. I am extremely passionate about limiting the impact of expensive energy bills on our customers and this scheme is one of the ways we can help.
“Following a government report highlighting that there were 2,000 excess winter deaths in Wales in 2019 and 2020 due to living in cold, less energy-efficient housing, I remain committed to limiting these preventable losses going forward and Oil 4 Wales will help in whichever way it can.”
■ To benefit from the latest community initiative, those within the age and customer range are encouraged to contact their local depots for further information: www.oil4wales.co.uk/contact/