News

Surviving Winter – £100k fundraising target reached!

March 7, 2018

Somerset Community Foundation (SCF) is delighted to announce that its 2017/18 Surviving Winter campaign has reached its fundraising target of £100,000!

Thanks to the inspiration of one Somerset pensioner, hundreds of vulnerable older people in our communities can look forward to a warmer and more sociable winter each year. Since Surviving Winter first launched in Somerset in 2010, the appeal has raised an astounding £600,000 in total for the county. One man’s idea to donate the equivalent of his Winter Fuel Payment to help others in greater need has since become a nationwide campaign with over £550,000 raised since October 2017 in the UK alone.

SCF’s community partners actively support people living in fuel poverty by visiting their homes and issuing Surviving Winter grants; thanks to the generosity of donors in Somerset this winter, the campaign has already helped close to 400 people in Somerset so far and more grants will continue to be issued well into the chilly springtime.

Cold weather is a prime cause of preventable deaths among older, isolated people in rural areas like Somerset. Age UK Somerset, one of SCF’s community partners, has a few tips that could save a life in the cold weather: if you have elderly neighbours, pop in to check they are OK; offer to get any shopping they might need; or even offer to take a hot meal to them.

If you are elderly, keep an eye on your thermometer and make sure your living room temperature is at 21 °C and your bedroom is at 18 °C; use a hot water bottle to keep warm, even during the daytime; and drink hot drinks regularly throughout the day and evening.

For information on how to apply for a Surviving Winter grant, please contact either Community Council for Somerset on 01823 331222 or Age UK Somerset on 01823 345610 or click here.

 

 


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