Help for pensioners struggling with fuel bills
THERE have been numerous letters published in the Press recently written by pensioners expressing their concerns about Guernsey Gas Ltd adjusting its pricing structure. The pensioners who wrote the letters said they are now living in fear of their gas bills increasing dramatically. May I please, via Open Lines, offer a glimmer of hope to any pensioner who is concerned about any possible increase in their future gas bills. What I would suggest they do is one, or preferably all four, of the following:
1. Call the gas company on 724811 and ask them to review your case. (John Davies, commercial director of Guernsey Gas, said in Open Lines on 11 December that the company is more than willing to review individual cases)
2. Call Social Security on 732508 and enquire whether or not you are entitled to any additional benefit payments such as Supplementary Benefit and Fuel Allowance. (I have been working with the staff at Social Security for three and a half years now and I can assure readers that the staff are always considerate, they are always willing to cooperate and they do their utmost to assist).
3. Call a deputy and ask them to help you with both of the above. That's what we're here for: we've been elected by the people to help the people resolve their problems.
4. Call me, in my capacity as chairman of the Age Concern Fuel Fund committee, on 729399 and apply for a grant towards your fuel costs.
Age Concern is operating the Fuel Fund from now until the end of April 2016 and can contribute up to £250 towards fuel bills for any pensioner struggling to pay those bills. Any pensioner in the island can apply: they don't have to be a member of Age Concern. Apart from having to verify the information supplied to us by applicants with Social Security, all applications are treated as strictly confidential by our three-person Fuel Fund committee. That committee being: myself as chairman; Anna-Marie de Cruz, Age Concern treasurer; and Mike Hawley, Age Concern charity facilitator.
We are only too aware that some of our pensioners are embarrassed, even ashamed, that they are in a position where they find themselves having to apply for assistance. Our message to any pensioner who feels like that is that there is absolutely no need whatsoever to feel embarrassed or ashamed. Our pensioners here in the island have made their contribution to society and they are still making that contribution, due to the fact that they pay income tax and Social Security contributions out of their pensions. In other words, they've not only paid their dues, but continue to do so: therefore they deserve to be as comfortable as possible in the autumn of their years, in our opinion.
Many of our pensioners, through no fault of their own, have ended up where they 'don't want to be' and what we all need when we find ourselves where we 'don't want to be' is some support to help us through a difficult time.
Therefore we urge any pensioner who is struggling to pay their fuel bills to view the Age Concern Fuel Fund as a vital means of support to help them get through a difficult time.
The money in our fund has been donated by generous and extremely considerate local companies and individuals who resonate completely with the approach of our committee, that approach being that we want our pensioners to be warm and comfortable in their own homes. If the money in the fund isn't claimed by pensioners who need it, then it will simply sit in our bank account, not being spent on the very reason why we established the fund in the first place.
In closing, I would urge any pensioner who is struggling to pay their fuel bills to call me as soon as possible and we can set the application process in motion. There is no need to sit there in your own home shivering. Also, I would urge them to do all of the following:
1. Contact the company concerned
2. Contact Social Security
3. Contact a deputy
We're all here to help.
DEPUTY LESTER QUERIPEL,
Chairman of Age Concern.
