​Thank you for supporting our Surviving Winter Appeal 24/25 to raise vital funds to help vulnerable older people stay warm and well when the cold weather hit.

This year, our appeal took on even more importance as an estimated 90% of older people living in Suffolk lost their winter fuel payment following changes to government policy.

With your help, the appeal raised £104,000 which has helped some of the most vulnerable households in Suffolk.  

At a time when the basis of the campaign, ‘don’t need it, donate it’ was no longer viable with the changes to winter fuel payments, we were overwhelmed by your generosity – thank you.

Through our three charity partners, East Suffolk Citizens Advice, Sudbury and South Suffolk Citizens Advice and Gatehouse, Bury St Edmunds, 108 households received a grant to help heat their home.

Additionally, we have awarded Surviving Winter funding to 10 organisations so far, all of whom support older people, totalling £62,000.  This allows grant payments to remain available for people who are struggling over the coming months as the rise in their winter fuel bills continues to impact them.

See how your donation helped people like Judith*

Judith contacted Citizens Advice East Suffolk for help with her money worries. She explained that her husband had recently died and alongside the grief she was experiencing she was also becoming very worried about how she would afford her household bills. Her most significant concern was the heating bill as it’s essential she keeps the house warm as the cold worsens her arthritis. In the past they had used her husband’s pension to pay the heating bill, but now she had to find the cost out of her small income.

We checked her benefit entitlement and found that she was just over the threshold for pension credit, however we did identify an eligibility for a disability benefit which we helped her apply for. However, these benefit applications can take up to 6 months to be assessed and Judith was panicking about the immediate lack of money to pay her heating bills.

We were able to use the Surviving Winter fund to ease this temporary pressure of the heating bills. This gave Judith the confidence to heat her home knowing that the cost was covered, avoiding the impact that a cold home would have on her health. It also allowed her to grieve the passing of her husband without the added concern of money worries. For Judith the Surviving Winter fund had an immeasurable impact.

* name has been changed to protect identity.