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Charities seeing rising demand for fuel vouchers

Emma Glasbey
BBC News, Yorkshire
BBC A black smart prepayment meter with the display showing the amount of electricity consumed in a week along with the balance remaining in pounds on the left and on the right the amount of gas consumed along with the cash balance remainingBBC
Charities say the recent cold weather has seen more people struggling to meet their heating costs

Charities in Leeds handed out more than 15,000 fuel vouchers last year to people struggling to pay for gas and electricity, saying demand for help was on the rise.

The Leeds Food Aid Network said 15,250 vouchers worth £49 were handed out between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 , up from 13,375 the previous year.

It and other organisations said they had also noticed a rise in people relatively well-paid employment needing additional support.

Nigel Toppin, who was among those to access support, said: "I make sure the gas is topped up rather than my fridge. I have to sacrifice in the cold season."

The 50-year-old, who works as a security guard and football steward, lives with his two sons and daughter in Leeds.

He said he was "thankful" for the support saying at times he was "really struggling".

"I have kids so I have to keep the house warm," he said.

"As a father I have to provide. It's life."

A man wearing a black baseball cap turned backwards wearing a blue jumper with white stripes along the shoulder and a white t-shirt underneath it
Nigel Toppin says he has faced difficult choices this winter to keep his family warm

Leeds Food Aid Network (LFAN) - which represents a group of services helping to support people with essentials - said there had been high demand for fuel vouchers during the cold weather at the end of last year and beginning of this one.

Dave Paterson, from LFAN, said: "We're seeing the cost of living impact people deeply over the past three years and we're seeing winter pressures kicking in.

"People who got paid before Christmas have had a five week waiting period before they get paid at the end of January and that's been really significant for quite a lot of people."

Two men seated on red and black sofas with the man on the right wearing jeans and a grey jacket and blue shirt holding a laptop on his knee, the man on the left wears jeans, a blue top with white stripes on the shoulder and a large yellow logo on the front
Dave Patterson (left) said there had been a high demand for support in recent weeks

The Green Doctors charity supports around 5,000 households a year in Yorkshire by carrying out home visits to offer advice on energy bills.

Manager Simon Kilshaw said he had seen a growing number of referrals over the past five years.

"It's not only the number of referrals but the type of people referring into the scheme has widened greatly," he said.

"It's people in work with quite good jobs who are struggling to make ends meet."

Mr Toppin said in his home he has had to make difficult choices over the winter to keep his family warm.

"It's really hard, especially as a single parent. It's part of life. You can't give up, you just have to keep fighting."

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