Charity warns £53m package ‘won’t go far enough’ as pensioners face rising bills

OLDER people across Wales are struggling to pay their energy bills despite new Government support, with a significant number already facing financial hardship before recent global tensions threatened further price rises.

New figures highlighted by Age Cymru show that 31% of pensioners reported struggling financially even before conflict escalated in the Middle East, with energy costs cited as the main pressure.

The UK Government this week announced a £53m support package for households reliant on heating oil. While welcoming the move, Age Cymru warned it would not be sufficient to protect vulnerable older people, many of whom are on low or fixed incomes and already finding it difficult to make ends meet.

The charity’s national polling, carried out in January, paints a stark picture of ongoing hardship. Nearly half (45%) of respondents said they were cutting back on heating or electricity use, while 36% said they were worried about falling into energy debt this winter.

Age Cymru said the situation is particularly concerning given the potential impact of geopolitical instability on energy prices later this year. The charity reports it is already hearing from older people anxious about how they will cope next winter.

Around one in ten households in Wales rely on heating oil, leaving them especially exposed to sudden price increases. Unlike those on mains gas, these households are not protected by the energy price cap.

The charity is calling on energy companies and the UK Government to ensure support is targeted at those most at risk. It also warned that rising consumer energy debt—currently at a record £4.5bn and forecast to reach £7bn by the end of the year—shows many households are still living with the impact of previous crises.

Concerns have also been raised for groups not covered by current support measures, including some park home residents and care home residents, who face similar exposure to rising costs.

Victoria Lloyd, Chief Executive of Age Cymru, said: “Even before recent events, many pensioners were already finding life financially challenging. Now, with the prospect of further energy price increases, anxiety is growing among older people about whether they will be able to afford to heat their homes.

“While the Government’s support is welcome, it will not be enough to meet the scale of need. Those relying on heating oil are particularly vulnerable, facing immediate and significant price hikes.

“It is deeply worrying for older people living on fixed incomes to be confronted with fuel costs that have doubled or even tripled overnight. This is not just a financial issue—it is a threat to health and wellbeing.

“We urgently need both immediate support and long-term solutions. No older person should be left in the cold. That means fairer energy pricing, better-insulated homes, and a system that tackles fuel poverty at its root.”

Age Cymru is urging anyone struggling with rising living costs to seek advice. Support is available through its Advice Line on 0300 303 44 98 or via its website. The service operates Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm.

Saundersfoot celebration to feature choirs, raffle and charity fundraising evening

SAUNDERSFOOT Rotary Club is set to celebrate its golden jubilee with a special community concert later this month, marking 50 years of service to the local area.

The event will take place on Thursday (Mar 26) at The Regency Hall, Saundersfoot, running from 6:30pm to 8:30pm, and will feature performances from Tenby Male Choir and Côr y Môr.

Founded in 1976 by a group of like-minded individuals committed to the Rotary principle of “Service above self,” the club has spent five decades supporting a wide range of charitable causes and community initiatives.

Over the years, members have raised around £500,000 through events such as the popular Saundersfoot Duck Race and annual hog roasts. In addition to fundraising, volunteers have contributed thousands of hours supporting projects across the community.

These include work with the Tenderfoot Disabled Sports Club, organising interschool competitions to promote writing, environmental awareness and the arts, assisting the Saundersfoot Wombles with beach cleans, and planting purple crocuses throughout the village to raise awareness of the global fight against polio.

The anniversary concert will also include a raffle, a silent auction featuring a painting of Saundersfoot titled The Beach Front donated by local artist Andrew Phillips, and a display showcasing the history of the Rotary Club.

Tickets are priced at £10 for adults, with free entry for under 16s. The price includes a hot drink and a Welsh cake. Tickets are available in advance from The Regency Hall and The Shoe Box in Saundersfoot, or can be purchased on the door.

Funds raised during the evening will go towards future Rotary activities, including replacing essential equipment and purchasing first aid kits, helping ensure the club can continue its work in the community for years to come.

A CALL to back feasibility funding which may ultimately see new leisure centres in both Milford Haven and Pembroke, as well as a multi-million grant to keep Tenby’s pool running for at least a decade, has been backed by senior councillors.

At the March 16 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet, members were asked to approve a leisure investment programme including feasibility funding for new leisure centres in Pembroke and Milford Haven, along with works at Tenby leisure centre, with the aim of extending the lifespan of the trust-run swimming pool by at least 10 years.

A report for members said of Pembroke and Tenby leisure centres that “the advancing age of the buildings, combined with the end-of-life cycle of a number of key components, has now resulted in the need for a significant replacement programme across both sites”.

To replace Tenby pool on its current footprint would be approximately £27.47m, with efforts to identify a viable alternative site within the town’s catchment area unsuccessful.

For Pembroke Leisure Centre, it says costs to extend the lifespan of the 1974-built pool by 10 years would be £8,288,418.

For Milford Haven Leisure Centre, the report said a condition survey “highlights significant areas that require attention, including, for example, building structure (metal cladding, roof) and mechanical and electrical works,” with an estimated cost over a 30-year period to address all findings at some £12,677,279, £5.6m of that over the next four years.

For Tenby, the aim is to extend its lifespan by at least a decade, with a grant to the charitable trust running the pool.

Members backed a long string of recommendations, subject to future decisions of Cabinet in accordance with the governance arrangements in the Capital Strategy to approve individual projects and put them into the capital programme.

For Pembroke this includes a detailed feasibility study for a new-build Leisure Centre in Pembroke, on the current school site, providing a feasibility budget of £195,000 from reserves.

For Milford Haven,  members backed £1.2m (at risk) in the capital programme to develop a high-level leisure brief into the tender of the new English Medium primary and secondary school project in Milford Haven, and the preconstruction services to develop the project designs (to RIBA 4, Detailed Design) for a new leisure centre at the same time as the school.

For Tenby, members backed a grant of £4,606,667 to the Tenby and District Swimming Pool Association, as owner of the asset, for works to extend the lifespan of the current swimming pool by at least 10 years.

Members also backed other recommendations including £50,000 from reserves to procure external funding consultants to identify and secure as much funding as possible towards the delivery of the investment programme, and to establish a leisure operations review board to undertake a formal review of the leisure services operating model.