AN appeal to help vulnerable people across Somerset keep warm this winter is off to a great start thanks to readers like you.

More than £7,000 has been raised since last week's launch of the 2016 Surviving Winter scheme.

Scores of generous people have handed over their Winter Fuel Payments so that vulnerable pensioners in the county will be saved from loneliness, isolation and the harsh effects of living in fuel poverty this winter.

Surviving Winter is managed by Somerset Community Foundation and encourages everyone of pensionable age in Somerset to donate part or all of their unwanted Winter Fuel Payment to be 'recycled' and given out in the form of grants to older people struggling to heat their homes or to stay healthy during winter months due to the cold.

Nationally, around one in 20 pensioner pensioner households is 'fuel poor', which equates to about 3,000 individuals and families in Somerset not having enough income to sufficiently heat their homes.

According to an official Government report, those households would need an extra £460 to spend on heating to stay warm and healthy.

Somerset Community Foundation aims to raise £100,000 in total this year to help at least 500 pensioner households struggling to heat their homes and to stay healthy this winter.

Winter Fuel Payments range from £150 to £300 and are usually received between mid-November and Christmas. Donations can be made by credit card online at www.somersetcf.org.uk/winter, by phone on 01749-344949, and by cheque, made payable to Somerset Community Foundation (write SW on the back) and sent to Yeoman House, Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet, BA4 6QN.

Justin Sargent, chief executive of the foundation, said: "It's unbearable to think that among us there are older people who won't survive the winter simply because they're too cold.

"Shocking as it may seem, too many people really do face a choice of eating or heating."