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This year's Surviving Winter Appeal aims to raise £15,000 to support local families and individuals facing fuel poverty.
Why is this support needed in Cambridgeshire?
Over 30,000 households across Cambridgeshire are predicted to experience fuel poverty.
Those affected cope as best as they can. People cut back on other essentials, such as food, or they ration energy use by heating only one room. Many people will also take respite in other warm places. However, with high energy costs and other living expenses, low incomes and energy-inefficient homes, these measures only go so far and should not be what anyone should need to resort to.
Families with young children, people with disabilities and those managing long-term health conditions are often hardest hit. Cold homes can worsen existing health problems, impact mental wellbeing and force people to choose between heating and other essential living costs.
The consequences of living in a cold home extend far beyond discomfort. Cold-related deaths represent the biggest weather-related source of mortality in the country. Across the UK, more than 7,000 winter deaths each year are associated with living in cold homes.
How will the Surviving Winter Appeal help?
The Foundation is working with partnering charities across the county to distribute the funds raised by making direct payments towards energy costs, like topping up prepayment meters, financing upcoming gas and electricity costs or paying for heating oil deliveries.
The charity partners include: Cambridge Aid, CHS Group, Cambridge City Foodbank, Citizens Advice Cambridge & District, Citizens Advice Rural Cambs and Citizens Advice Peterborough.
Last year, a local resident who we supported told us,
“For the last several years, due to numerous physical and mental health issues, I have been unable to properly heat my home and have simultaneously fallen into debt. I will now have one less thing I need to constantly worry about. Thanks to your kindness and generosity, I’m looking forward to sharing a warm and cosy Christmas with my family.”
Please consider donating to the Surviving Winter Appeal to help more local people stay warm, safe and well this winter.
Huge thanks to the appeal’s headline supporter, MM Wealth
We're hugely grateful to MM Wealth for kick-starting this year's appeal with a generous £7,500 donation.
Every contribution, whatever the size, could help us match their gift and reach our £15,000 fundraising target in time for Christmas.