GENEROUS pensioners in Cornwall have donated their winter fuel payments to charity.
The Cornwall Community Foundation (CCF) is thanking everybody who has so far supported the Surviving Winter appeal.
The CCF has received more than £14,000 to date after calling on anyone in the county who receives the winter fuel payment but does not need some or all of it to donate it to the appeal.
The charity is now inviting applications for grants from community organisations which are helping elderly and vulnerable people to stay warm and well this winter. The campaign is associated with the UK-wide Surviving Winter appeal.
The CCF says that 24 per cent of households in Cornwall are in fuel poverty, with this figure rising to 40 per cent in some parts of the county. The charity says that the issue causes serious health problems, including heart attacks and strokes, with more than 342 ‘excess’ deaths in Cornwall in winter each year and that poor health from a lack of warmth affects another 50,000 people.
Oliver Baines, the chief executive officer of the CCF said: ‘Winter celebrations can often blind us to how difficult a time this can be for elderly people who, without valuable support, find surviving the winter an exhausting experience.
‘Heating bills, staving off coldness and the threat of hypothermia are just some the dangers. Loneliness can take its toll too.’
Donations can be made by: sending a cheque made payable to The Cornwall Community Foundation to Suite 1, Sheers Barton, Lawhitton, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 9NJ; or by visiting the website, www.
cornwallfoundation.com, and following the links to the CCF Just Giving page.