68,000 Vulnerable People Benefitting From Heating Initiative

LONDON, Nov. 30, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As temperatures continue to dip, Government statistics show that in England alone 912,000[i] homeowners live without adequate heating systems or insulation. Many Britons find themselves ineligible for schemes that help repair heating and broken boilers.

For those in poor health, the risks exacerbate their conditions, or contract hypothermia – with experts advising vulnerable people not to let their home temperatures dip below 18 degrees.

npower's Health Through Warmth initiative has already helped 68,000[ii] people with long term illnesses heat their homes properly through some of the bitterest winters by installing new boilers and central heating systems. 

Now in its 15th year, npower is renewing its commitment to supporting vulnerable people by putting faces to these above figures with a series of personal stories told by individuals (and families) the scheme has helped.

These short stories – or Brrr…eathable Animations – were shot using an innovative film technology that uses warm breath against lighting to create moving animations, as if breathing into cold air. The videos have been released to demonstrate that there is help available to homeowners whose health is suffering in cold homes due to system issues.

To date, Health Through Warmth has brought together more than £80million in funding for the project.

Former police civilian clerk Christine Woodward, 70 years old, who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is now warm for the first time in years after Health Through Warmth installed a new heating system in her Birmingham home.

"The house still had a 1980s heating system which had long stopped working and I couldn't afford a new boiler. The charity Age Concern referred me to HTW which has changed my life. I am in remission from lung cancer in addition to my respiratory illness and had to sit huddled under a blanket to try to keep warm," she said.

Malcolm Booth, chief executive of the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners, said: "Schemes like Health Through Warmth bring much needed help to those most in need. Keeping warm is vital for health and the elderly, sick and the very young are most at risk from extreme conditions when houses cannot be heated."

To date, npower has invested £11.5 million* and brought together a further £71.3 million* in additional funding for 'Health Through Warmth' which supports vulnerable people, regardless of which supplier heats their home. 

[i]  English Housing survey by the Department for Communities and Local Government, 2013 – 2014[ii] Figures provided by npower's Health Through Warmth

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srsQX1yUayc

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151127/291486

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SOURCE npower