Heating grants boost for elderly people

Fuel grants have been paid out to elderly people in Kettering to help with heating bills this year.

Kettering Town Council paid out 300 successful applications for payments – an increase of nearly 50% on last year.

Successful applicants have received a payment of £68 each, up from £60 last year, and were available to people living in Kettering and Barton Seagrave.

To qualify for the payment, people had to be over the statutory retirement age, single and have an income less than £300 per week.

The funding comes from Kettering Charities for the Poor, which can trace its history back to the nineteenth century and is run in partnership with Kettering Town Council.

Leader of Kettering Town Council and Chairman of the Trustees, Cllr Lloyd Bunday, said: "I am glad that the charity was able to help so many people this year. These payments make a big difference to Kettering and Barton Seagrave residents in this coldest time of the year."