Can you help people in Wiltshire to 'survive winter'?

A campaign's been launched by Wiltshire Community Foundation, with some differences this time

Author: Faye TryhornPublished 30th Nov 2020

It's the 11th year of the Wiltshire Community Foundation's Surviving Winter campaign, but it's being run slightly differently this year.

Ordinarily the money raised is given back out to vulnerable people across the county to help them cover their winter fuel bills.

But this time, WCF is working with partners like Age UK, Warm and Safe Wiltshire and Citizens Advice to provide additional support.

That could include things like delivering a hot meal, energy saving or benefits advice, or home repairs - as Fiona Oliver from Wiltshire Community Foundation explains:

"One of the partners is providing support for people whose boilers are broken, if they can't afford to repair them, it's something that can be fixed quite quickly and enable them to get back on their feet. The biggest thing for us is that we don't want people to suffer in silence."

Wiltshire Community Foundation's Fiona Oliver speaking to us on a video call

Last year, the Surviving Winter appeal raised £90,000 and helped 300 people across Wiltshire.

The charity has set themselves a target to raise the same amount of cash, but support at least 900 people this time.

Joint Chief Executive of WCF, Fiona Oliver says it's a vital campaign, that could make a real difference:

"There's 30,000 people living in fuel poverty (in Wiltshire) and over 400 people, on average each year, die from premature winter related deaths. We also know that coronavirus has had a massive impact on people. Our campaign is more important than ever before, and we knew that we needed to do something slightly different to reach more people."

The campaign is running throughout this winter to support those living in fuel poverty across Wiltshire

The campaign usually asks those who receive the Government's Winter Fuel Payments, and don't need them to cover their own bills, to give it up to help others.

But the charity's hopeful that the people of Wiltshire will do what they can to help others in their own communities.

Fiona Oliver from WCF says in the past, we've been very supportive:

"Any pound that is donated to the Surviving Winter campaign is used to support someone local who is suffering from fuel poverty. All we can do is thank all of our supporters for the years of support and hope that they'll stick with us this year, because we know it really is one of the toughest years ever."

If you'd like to support the Surviving Winter appeal, you can find out more on the Wiltshire Community Foundation website.

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