WILTSHIRE’s High Sheriff and Lord Lieutenant have urged the people of the county to support Wiltshire Community Foundation’s Surviving Winter campaign. The Surviving Winter campaign, which has been running since 2010, will this year be funding partners Age UK, Warm and Safe Wiltshire and both Swindon and Wiltshire Citizens Advice so they can provide hot meals, energy bill vouchers, boiler repairs and servicing and essential energy-saving and benefits advice. Last year the appeal raised £90,000 and helped 300 people through direct grants, but by working closer with its partners this year, the community foundation hopes to help at least 900. Research by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy last year revealed there are more than 30,000 households in Wiltshire and Swindon - almost one in ten homes - living in fuel poverty, meaning they cannot afford to heat their home properly through the coldest months of the year.
Fuel poverty affects people across Wiltshire More than a million pounds will be dispersed across Wiltshire this winter to help ensure people are kept safe, well and warm. The Government’s £170 million national COVID Winter Grant Scheme was made available this month to support people with the cost of food, energy, water bills and other essentials. Wiltshire Council was awarded £1,107,932.98 and will be supporting charities such as the Wiltshire Community Foundation. Cllr Philip Whitehead, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: “Winter can be a tough time for some people, even more so after the events of this year, so we welcome this extra support.
ENERGY advisors will use funds raised by this year’s Surviving Winter campaign to help older and vulnerable people living in fear of huge fuel bills. The £90,000 campaign launched by the Wiltshire Community Foundation is working with Warm and Safe Wiltshire, one of four partners including Age UK and Citizens Advice in Swindon and Wiltshire. The campaign, now in its 11th year, aims to help more than 900 people, including the 400 elderly people across the county who are at risk of dying from cold-related illness over the winter. The government estimates more than 30,000 people in the county live in fuel poverty, meaning they cannot afford to heat their homes properly.