Campaign for help towards energy bills gathers momentum – take action today

3 mins read

Wednesday 25 May 2022

Tags: campaigns, energy bills, financial help

Through our Out of Energy campaign, we have been speaking to and hearing from families up and down the country increasingly desperate about soaring energy bills.

Over 3,000 have signed our letter backing our calls to government to give more financial help to disabled households, disproportionately affected by higher energy costs. We thank each and every one of you for your support. If you haven’t yet had a chance to sign, there’s just a week or so left before we will deliver it to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak at Number 11 Downing Street, so take action today

We need life-saving electrical equipment

Noor Fatima is mum to Aminah, aged 8, who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). Aminah  needs a lot of electrical equipment essential for quality and safety of life, including a lift in the family home, a CPAP machine, electrical bed and wheelchair.

Noor, who works for the NHS, said: “Both me and my husband work and we are just about holding it together. I feel so disheartened at how hard it is. Our energy use is high, because we need gadgets and life-saving equipment to help Aminah. There’s literally nothing we can cut back on. It’s not just energy, everything is going up. I’ve noticed an increase of £20-£30 in our weekly shopping bill. I find it scary that we are not being offered any help.

“I would encourage families to sign Contact’s letter, there’s not long left before they deliver it to Downing Street, so make your voice is heard while you can.”

Yesterday the Chief Executive of Ofgem Jonathan Brearley said the price cap is expected to rise to £2,800 in October. Contact’s Out of Energy research found that many families with disabled children are already facing bills of that size.

Costs don’t change with the weather

Una Summerson, Head of Policy at Contact, said: “Even during this warmer weather, families with disabled children have high energy costs. Those costs are constant and don’t change with the weather.

“Families can’t wait till October for the government to act. They need targeted support now. Disability benefits need to be raised in line with current inflation and the energy rebate should be made a non repayable grant for disabled households. We’d also like to see the Warm Home Discount scheme available to more disabled households.

“And that’s the message we will be delivering to the Chancellor in the next few weeks, so show your support for the campaign today.”

Sign our letter calling for financial help for families today.