Charity to tackle high prices from energy suppliers with handouts - 07/04/2009
Charity Save the Children is to help provide better access to cheap energy by issuing cash handouts to families affected by fuel poverty and other expenses.
According to the Guardian, it will be the first time that the charity has given handouts to families in Britain, but it has decided it is a necessary move given rising unemployment figures and the scale of price rises for energy and food.
All the major energy companies introduced dramatic price rises last year and research from Save the Children reveals that nearly half of the poorest families in Britain have scaled back their food shopping to accommodate other costs.
Colette Marshall, director of UK programmes for Save the Children, said: "There are children whose parents can't afford a proper meal or to fix a broken boiler without going deep into debt. The financial crisis makes their situation ever bleaker."
Around 1,000 of the country's poorest families will be allocated payments of up to £200 each to help towards expenses.
All the UK's major energy companies have recently announced low-key price cuts.
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