Turn2us
Winter 2016 Fuel Poverty Campaign - Older People
To highlight the support available to older people living in financial hardship in the UK who struggle to pay for rising heating costs. Too many older people face the stark choice of Heat or Eat? This campaign extension identifies ways older people can get the help they need to keep warm in winter.
It ran from 12:00 PM, 1 November 2016 to 12:00 PM, 1 December 2016
Registered Charity in England and Wales (207812)
Donations
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Location
Campaign overview
Aims
Where's the money going?
Impact & reporting
Situation
Over 1 million low income older people struggled with their energy bills last year. Elderly people on fixed incomes facing this struggle are particularly at risk from dying from the cold. However over 25% of pensioners eligible for pension credit don’t claim it – government figures estimate £3.7 billion remains unclaimed each year - either because older people don’t know how, are unaware of their eligibility or feel there’s a stigma to claiming.
Solution
There's over a million older people who are not claiming the Pension Credits they quality for. If more older people were made aware of the help that is available, more could claim benefits that they are entitled to. By maximising their income in this way, more older people could afford to keep their homes warm as well as eat adequately. They would have fewer money worries and increase their chances of surviving winter and reduce their risk of dying from the cold and aggravating health problems.