and a snack at night. having cut down on food, zahada safdar is now facing reducing herfuel. the hot water bottle eases the pain from her severe arthritis, as she can t afford to properly heat her flat after a 20% rise in bills. a single mum with limited income, it s very difficult to even turn the button on right now for central heating. how often do you put it on? kind of every other day for about half an hour. around one in four homes in scotland are in fuel poverty, the highest level in the uk, and those groups offering help have been inundated in recent weeks. you can t even afford to turn your heating on? do you have children in the house? at this support centre, they say rocketing energy prices, rising food costs and the £20 a week cut to universal credit have combined to create real struggles. some people are borrowing, some people are just deciding, do i eat tonight or do i put on my heating?