I recently met with my constituent Gary Gwinnett to show my support for a local warmth initiative, Health Through Warmth.

Gary, a 50-year-old supervisor from Yardley Wood, lives with his wife and six of their children, and was helped by npower’s Health Through Warmth scheme earlier this year after experiencing kidney failure during one of the coldest winter’s on record.  The family have never had central heating, relying instead on one gas fire and small portable radiators to keep their home warm. However, two years ago, Gary experienced kidney failure and began kidney dialysis treatment.  Forced to spend most of his time at home, Gary’s condition left him extremely sensitive to the cold, especially at night when he had to get up regularly to continue his treatment. With an already weakened immune system, Gary needed to keep warm, and even catching a common cold could have had serious consequences for his health.

 As winter persisted, Gary’s health began to deteriorate and the family were forced to use their portable radiators around the clock in an attempt to keep their home warm but they were expensive to run and couldn’t produce sufficient heat. Gary’s wife mentioned their situation to a member of the family support team at the Maypole Children’s Centre who referred them to npower’s Health Through Warmth scheme for help.

 Health Through Warmth is a fantastic scheme which has improved the lives of many people in the Birmingham area. It was good to see first-hand how people like Gary have been helped by the scheme and to learn more about how Health Through Warmth offers help to residents who may be in a similar situation but are unsure of who to turn to.  The scheme aims to help vulnerable people whose health is made worse by cold, damp living conditions, by assisting with the installation of appropriate heating and insulation measures and energy efficiency advice and helped Gary by finding funding for central heating to ensure his house stayed warm.

Birmingham is very lucky to be one of the 15 areas in England and Wales currently benefiting from the initiative. As the weather begins to get colder, I’d like to encourage residents who are experiencing cold and damp conditions in their home to get in touch with the scheme, as they may be eligible for help.

Gary explains: “We didn’t think we were eligible for any help until we were put in touch with Health Through Warmth. We couldn’t be more thankful for what the scheme has done for us and for all the organisations that came forward to help provide funding. The new central heating is invaluable, especially as I ended up having a transplant at the beginning of the year. If my home was still as cold as it had been, I don’t think I would have been discharged from hospital, but instead I was able to come back to my family and recover in a nice warm home.”

 For more information visit www.healththroughwarmth.com