If you are over 60 and wish to apply for support to help you meet the
cost of winter please contact our county-wide partner Age UK Somerset
on 0845 6434621.

To find out about a few of the people already helped this winter please click here

It is estimated that 400 vulnerable people in Somerset died in the past two winters from causes directly attributable to the cold and poor living conditions - over 90% were aged 65 or over. For every winter-related death, dozens more will fall seriously ill or suffer great hardship, often in silence, often unnoticed.

Over the past two winters, prompted by many of our supporters, the Somerset Community Foundation has called on all who can afford to forego some or all of their Winter Fuel Payment, to make a donation to help those who need extra help. As energy prices rise again (the cost of heating a pensioners home has doubled since 2005) we are asking anyone who can afford to do so, to support our 2012 appeal and transform the lives of hundreds of older people in Somerset this winter.

If you wish to make a donation to Somerset Community Foundation's Surviving Winter Appeal, please click here now.

Michael Eavis, Founder of the Glastonbury Festival "This campaign appealed to me right from the start and I'm so pleased that it's spread across the country with such amazing success. Sadly, with rising energy prices, more pensioners than ever will be struggling to stay warm and healthy this winter. So I'm happy to donate my winter fuel payment to Somerset Community Foundation again this year"  Photo by Jason Bryant

If we have surplus funds at the end of the winter, we build the 'Donald Lake Memorial Fund' which was set up in our endowment to provide sustainable income to help older people in the county far into the future.

Find out more:

Click here for BBC Radio 4 'iPM' interview or here for the BBC Somerset interview.

Click here to download a PDF report on the 2011/12 Appeal

Click here to download a PDF of Q&As on the Surviving Winter Appeal.

Peter Price, Bishop of Bath and Wells “This is a wonderfully imaginative and innovative idea which deserves our full backing. It is a way of helping those in real need,” said Bishop Peter.  “There is something slightly uncomfortable about receiving Government support for something as basic as winter fuel when you are not in need.  My wife Dee and I will therefore be joining others who have decided to donate their Winter Fuel Payment to the Somerset Community Foundation, who can use the money to help local people in real need.."