Charity wants more help for elderly in cold weather

A leading charity for the elderly is calling for more help with fuel bills for older people who are struggling to keep warm during the ongoing cold snap that is being experienced across Britain. Charity Age Concern and Help the Aged has stated that the government needs to increase the payments it makes to pensioners for fuel during the unusually long cold snap that is being seen across the country at the moment.

The charity has stated that if the government fails to take action to increase fuel payments for vulnerable pensioners during the current climate then many pensioners may lost their lives as a result of the big freeze. Figures show that in the winter of last year nearly thirty seven thousand excess winter deaths were recorded, and this reflected an increase of 50 percent compared to the winter of the previous year.

A spokesperson for the charity said that many more would die this year if something was not done to help older people in the current weather. He said that little bits of progress had been made in different areas, but that it was nowhere near enough to help save the lives of the many vulnerable pensioners that would end up losing their lives if something was not done to help them to keep warm.

He stated: “We have seen different bits of so-called progress being made but it’s nothing like fit for purpose. The winter fuel payment no longer pays very much of a normal energy bill, the insulation and draft proofing programmes are not working very broadly and the consequences are going to be, more people die, more people are going to get ill, put pressure on the NHS, and more people are going to feel miserable.”

Tags: United Kingdom, nhs, normal energy bill, Social Issues, spokesperson