30 November 2023
I woke up cold this morning – I hate having to get the girls up and dressed in winter; there was ice on the inside of the windows today. My mum used to tell us stories about waking up with ice on her pillow but I never thought my kids would have to see the same. There was someone on the radio talking about fuel poverty; they said it’s a choice between heating or eating. I was thinking, if I put this £2 on the meter key, we’ll have to skip breakfast until my wife gets paid on Friday. And I realised they were talking about us.
I worry about my older daughter’s shoes – they’re too small now and she’s started limping on the walk home from school. Some of the mums asked if I wanted to go for a coffee this morning; I pretended I had a ‘meeting’ I had to get back for. I looked in at some charity shops on the way to see if there are any cheap kids’ shoes that might do.
When I got home there was a letter from the electricity people reminding us how to check our balance on the prepayment meter and all the other things it can do. They seem very pleased with their technology but having it means our fuel costs us more than other people pay. But we don’t have a bank account so we can’t access the payment discounts most people don’t even notice.
This last year everyone’s been talking about how they might not even be able to go on holiday because their gas bill’s so big or whatever. It almost makes me laugh – the only break our girls have had the last couple of years is going to the library after school so they can do their homework without having to wear gloves.
After I got in my wife got back from her shift. She looked so tired, all I could give her was a cup of tea – she’ll have to wait til tonight to eat, right before she heads back out again. We don’t see enough of each other and the girls miss her but that’s the way it is. We don’t have choices.
This is a fictional diary entry but it could easily not be. Today – Fuel Poverty Awareness Day 2023 – the government estimates that 13.2% of us are in fuel poverty, not able to afford to heat our homes to a healthy and comfortable temperature.
Fuel poverty can have serious and long-lasting effects on people’s physical and mental health.
