LAWHITTON-based Cornwall Community Foundation (CCF) is appealing for help from all those who can give some or all of their winter fuel payment, or who would like to make a donation, to support people struggling to survive this winter in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

A total of 34,000 households in Cornwall live in fuel poverty. Some wards in Launceston, Penzance, Falmouth, Wadebridge, St Austell, Fowey, Lostwithiel and the Clay area are very badly impacted. In St Dennis South, for example, 29% of households struggle with energy bills and the resulting health and wellbeing issues. Around 750 more people die each winter in Cornwall compared to the summer months.

Last year’s Surviving Winter Appeal enabled CCF to award more than £13,000 in grants to eleven community groups. More than 630 people in Cornwall benefited from the appeal.

Concern Wadebridge, for example, received funding towards providing a daily kitchen, providing light warm snacks for elderly and vulnerable people during the winter months. Manager, Andy Lyle, said: “For some who use the centre, it is the only warm meal they will have that day.”

The groups that benefited from the fund in 2016 were Action for Children, CAB Cornwall, Concern Wadebridge, Cornwall Refuge Trust, CRCC, Inclusion Cornwall, Liskeard Breathers, St Austell Community Kitchen, Transformation CPR, Wadebridge Foodbank and Wild Young Parents.

Grants manager, Kirsty Philpott, said: “It’s the generous support of our Friends and the general public that means we can help improve the health and wellbeing of Cornish people struggling this winter. Every year, we are struck by the high level of need and every pound donated makes a difference.”

Donations can be made by sending a cheque, payable to the Cornwall Community Foundation, Suite 1, Sheers Barton, Lawhitton, Launceston, PL15 9NJ, or by visiting www.cornwallfoundation.com to donate online.