A petition against Winter Fuel Payment cuts gathers over 28,500 signatures from Wales.
Thousands of Welsh people who lost their winter fuel payment are signing a petition, urging the UK government to reconsider its decision.
Age UK, a charity supporting older people, launched the petition after the cancelling of universal fuel payments, has already gathered over 650,000 signatures, including 28,500 from Wales.
“We’ve been hearing from older people who have said that they are going to have to choose between heating and eating, especially for those people with long-term health conditions and need the heating on,” said Rhian Morgan, the public affairs officer on the Age Cymru in Cardiff.
Age Cymru, a charity dedicated to supporting older people in Wales, worked with their partners at Age UK on this petition and campaign pack. “ Since the announcement, we’ve been campaigning on this because we are quite concerned about the impact on older people across Wales,” said Rhian.
In addition to the petition, Age Cymru is also providing additional support to those affected by the cancellation of the fuel payments through a dedicated advice line. According to internal data, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people calling the helpline this year for advice on winter fuel payments.
This petition is still gaining support. Age Cymru expressed their demand: “ We urge the UK government to reconsider the proposed changes to avert a potential crisis. If the government is determined to proceed, further mitigation measures need to be introduced to safeguard poor and vulnerable pensioners.”
Alun Morris,89, who lost his winter fuel payment this year said:“ We are very fortunate that we can pay our bills, but for people who are on the borderline, it has hurt their families. On the whole, the government has dealt with it very, very badly.”
As temperatures drop, both charities and impacted residents are all waiting for a response from the government.