Kind-hearted mid-Somerset residents have raised thousands of pounds for those who cannot afford to switch on their heating this winter.
Last winter almost 400 people died in Somerset from causes directly attributable to the cold and poor living conditions – the majority being more than 75-years-old.
In a bid to prevent such tragedies, this winter the Somerset Community Foundation launched its innovative Surviving Winter appeal.
The scheme asked those who could afford it to forego their Winter Fuel Payment (WFP) and donate the money to those for whom it is not nearly enough.
The WFP is a universal payment of between �125 and �400, depending on your age and domestic circumstances, made to everybody over 60 on the electoral roll, during November and December.
High-profile Somerset residents who signed up for the appeal included Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis, and the Bishop of Bath and Wells and his wife Dee, who all said that they wanted their payments to go to those in real need.
This newspaper also backed the campaign and published a Gift Aid form enabling people to hand over their payment to the foundation and attract the 28 per cent extra to the charity from the taxman.
Now it has been revealed that readers of the Mid Somerset Series directly gave �8,256 to the appeal, via the forms published in the newspaper.
Pakistan cricket betting scandal Egypt Botswana Sir Michael Lyons Robert Schumann Energy
No comments:
Post a Comment