EXCLUSIVE: Bill and Mary Donaldson have dedicated their lives to helping others who struggle to heat their homes and afford to feed themselves – but this year they are worried
Selfless Bill and Mary Donaldson have dedicated their lives helping others who struggle to heat their homes and afford to feed themselves.
The committed Christians have volunteered at a weekly drop-in where the needy can find sanctuary in a safe and warm environment.
But this year they are worried – both for those they help as well as themselves – after Labour axed the OAP Winter Fuel Payment.
Last year the couple, who have five children and seven grandchildren, received £600 in cold weather cash. This year they will not get a penny.
Instead, they will use two cheap handheld heaters purchased from the Internet and put them to use when autumn arrives.
That, coupled with extra layers and blankets, will provide warmth across four long months as they ration central heating which will be limited to a miserly 18C [64F].
Mary, 71, said: “Most of the people we help do not have internet knowledge and, like us, do not qualify for Pension Credit, literally by a small amount.
“So we support the crusade to reinstate the Winter Fuel Payment on behalf of them, the silent people with no voice.
“The health issues we have lived with for in excess of 20-years means we need to keep our house warm in the winter. We managed this last year because of the fuel allowance. This year it will disappear.”
Retired lay minister Bill, 81, underwent a triple bypass, suffered two transient ischemic attacks [CORR – mini-strokes], and lives with a chronic lung condition. Mary had her lymph glands removed after being struck by breast cancer.
Like millions of other OAPs, their health problems mean the central heating has to run around-the-clock at their home in Deal, Kent, during the harsh winter months.
Yet the couple continue to put others first and are part of an army of volunteers tirelessly working across the UK to help those less fortunate.
This winter demand for hundreds of eat and heat community services is set to reach record levels as the cost of living squeeze, coupled with soaring energy bills and the cruel cold weather payment snatch, conspires to hit the elderly and vulnerable the hardest.
The annual payment, a universal benefit available to all of State Pension age since 1997, will be officially scrapped on September 16 with only those qualifying after a draconian means-test.
Bill and Mary say they are not well off (Image: Tim Merry)
Only those in receipt of Pension Credit – a payment almost 900,000 OAPs are too proud to claim – or certain other benefits will be entitled to the cash. The allowance remains unchanged at £200 for those aged between 66 and 79 and £300 for those over 80. The number entitled to the one-off payment to help them through the coldest months of the year will plummet from 11.4 million to 1.5 million.
That will leave 10 million pensioners, already existing on meagre incomes, petrified they will fall ill without resorting to switching the heating on.
Last year Bill and Mary invested in two cheap handheld heaters purchased from the Internet and will put them into use once more when autumn arrives.
Mary, a Waspi woman who used to work as a special needs teacher, said: “We are not well off. Not by a long chalk. But there are people far less fortunate than ourselves.
“We were so broke we needed to take equity release about eight years ago.
“Life is a struggle. We can’t afford to go to a dentist so I pull my own teeth out. I am serious.
“My husband’s false teeth are £2,000, new glasses are £600. It never ends.
“We are not rich, not by a long chalk. But I want to speak up for the millions who will really struggle.
“I don’t think any of us should have to justify why we need to stay warm in our homes.
“We are paying £159-a-month for our electricity and gas – I think that is enough. Next month it is going to go up to £176. How can the Government justify taking the fuel allowance away? It is cruel and it is unfair.”
Scottish-born Bill, brought up in a Salvation Army household and who went on to serve as an officer for the charity, said: “The Winter Fuel Payment was necessary last year and kept our head above water. Whether we can do that this year I am not sure.
“I am concerned about it being a harsh winter. There will be a lot of people that will be far worse off and these are the people we would like to help.
“I was brought up to look beyond myself. If we can help, we will. We are still carrying what we do, but when this winter fuel money goes there will be genuine need. We look after the elderly and carers who look after those with dementia and Alzheimer’s, but there is a genuine need for people to know there are places where they can go and feel safe.
“We put others before ourselves. It’s how we have been raised.”
