Nearly 60% of people with cancer find that their energy bills go up after diagnosis. This isn’t surprising, considering cancer patients often feel the cold more due to their condition and treatment. Plus, they are often spending more time at home, pushing up their fuel bills. These costs can simply be too much for some, with almost one in five switching off their heating because they worry about mounting fuel bills.
Energy-efficient homes are warmer and cheaper to heat, which is a win-win for people living in fuel poverty. But the cost of getting insulation and modern boilers installed is often too much for people already struggling to make ends meet. While energy-efficiency grants are available, the process for accessing them can be complicated. Helping cancer patients keep warm without the worry has been at the heart of our freeze out fuel poverty campaign, so Macmillan welcomes initiatives which can help cancer patients stay warm.
As part of our campaign, we’re supporting the Energy Bill Revolution petition. This coalition of charities, trade unions, businesses and MPs wants the government to use income from green taxes to fund fuel efficiency projects for UK homes. We need as many of you as possible to sign up to the petition and to ask your MPs to do the same.
It only takes a couple of minutes, so please take part.
