This is the 16th year we have run our appeal and sadly the need is as great as ever. More than 35,000 people live in fuel poverty in Dorset and the rising cost of living means those on pensions and benefits are less able to keep their homes warm.

The constant worry about paying bills means many older and vulnerable people skip meals and heat just one room for a few hours a day. Living in a cold home makes respiratory and heart conditions far worse, not to mention the toll it takes on a person’s mental health. Each year in Dorset almost 500 people on average die unexpectedly in winter, more than a fifth due to cold-related illness. In 2026 we think that is unacceptable.

Our partnership with Citizens Advice in Dorset means we can identify older and vulnerable people at risk and give them the support they need. Thanks to our donors we can award £200 energy grants to ease their anxiety about having the heating on.

Citizens Advice advisers help identify additional benefits they may be entitled to, as well as giving them supermarket vouchers and energy-saving advice and signposting to other agencies where they can get free home insulation and other energy help.

The aim is to meet their immediate need and  help them to be more resilient in future years.

We’d like to ask people, especially those who receive the Winter Fuel Payment and feel they may not need it, or all of it, to donate to our appeal and maybe help save a life.