Surviving Winter helps Harry through tough times

Harry is 77. Last year he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s which had a devastating impact on his life. He told us how he found out about Surviving Winter grants just in the nick of time. 

“Due to the effects of the disease I’ve had to give up everything I used to do. I used to make musical instruments, it was a hobby that kept me busy but was also quite a nice little side-line and helped us pay the rent and bills, but it’s impossible now.  

The problem is, we have oil heating in our home, we’re not connected to the mains. And it’s a huge amount of money to pay out in one go; – you can’t just top up a little at a time. The minimum is half a tank, which at the moment costs about £500. But the price is going up all the time. Last winter the oil got very low, and because I was no longer earning we suddenly found ourselves in a position where we just didn’t have the money to top up the tank. 

We’ve only recently moved to the area and we just didn’t know who to turn to for help. Luckily, we found out about the Village Agents through a neighbour and that’s how we got our Surviving Winter grant. The money we were given went straight towards paying for oil. We had almost run out completely, which would have meant no heating and no hot water. 

The people at Citizens Advice have been supportive, too. They’ve helped us fill in forms and made sure we’re getting all the benefits we qualify for. I don’t know how other people cope – I could never have done it without their help.  

I really don’t want to be in the same position again this winter, but the way the cost of oil is increasing at the moment, we’ll just have to see. It’s such a worry, not knowing when the price increases will stop. We were very thankful for the Surviving Winter grant last year, luckily it came at just the right time.”