Age UK has recently delivered a 650,056 strong petition to No.10 Downing Street urging the Government to do more to help older people stay warm at home.
New UK wide research for the Charity Age UK has revealed that 3 in 4 (75% – equivalent to 9.1 million) aged 66 and over said that their homes were colder than they would like them to be some, most of or all of the time.
For those pensioners on low to modest household incomes of £20,000 or less, a massive one in three (35%) said their home was too cold most or all of the time.
A similar proportion of older private renters, 1 in 3 (34%ii), also said their home was cold most or all of the time.
Petition delivered to Downing Street
Last month, Age UK delivered its 650,056 strong Save the Winter Fuel Payment for struggling pensioners petition to No.10 Downing Street, London.
Almost 90,000 petition signatures came from people in South-East area, making it the largest region for signature collection.
The statistics
To highlight the Charity’s petition hand-in, Age UK released new findings showing the pressures being felt by older people this winter.
Two in five (41%) pensioners said that they had recently had to cut back on heating or powering their home – equivalent to 5 million.
Nearly half (48%) of people aged 66+ revealed they were worried about being able to heat their homes when they wanted to, and 44% told Age UK they’re worried about the impact of energy prices on their health – noticeably higher than last year (January 2024) when 1 in 3 (33%) said they were worried about this.
Call for Winter Fuel Payment changes to be halted
As part of its campaign, locally Age UK Isle of Wight supported a nationwide petition calling for the Government to halt their proposed change to the Winter Fuel Payment (WFP) and think again.
The Age UK network strongly opposed the cut to the WFP and repeatedly warned that at least 2.5 million older people would struggle without it and wouldn’t be able to afford to stay adequately warm in their homes.
News shared from Cally on behalf of Ahe UK Isle of Wight. Ed
