PHYLLIS AND DAVID LOOKING TO THE WINTER WITH RENEWED CONFIDENCE

Phyllis lives in a semi-rural part of Wales with her husband David. Old age hasn’t been kind to the couple as both suffer from debilitating illnesses with David having to use a wheelchair. Money is tight for the couple and with recent rises in food and energy prices they were becoming stressed about how they would cope with winter.

Feeling desperate, a friend suggested they contact the local Care and Repair Cymru charity for some support and advice. Within a week or so, the charity’s local Home Energy Officer, Wayne Hughes, visited the couple in their home to see how he could help.

Crucially, Wayne managed to obtain part funding to help the Collins’ purchase a brand new boiler that has made their home so much warmer.

He also helped secure the services of an accredited plumber to install the boiler.

Wayne looked closely at their gas bills and realised they were paying far too much for the amount they were using and managed to get a rebate and a new tariff from their gas supplier.

Wayne also gave them lots of simple but useful tips for saving energy around the home such as only boiling half a kettle of water for making one or two cups of tea and switching appliances off at the mains when they were not in use.

Phyllis says: “I now have peace of mind knowing that we can heat our home properly and help keep both myself and David well in the coming winter months. I would recommend anyone who is worried about heating their home to contact their local Care and Repair Cymru to see what help and advice is out there.”