Background to the campaign

The British Gas Help the Aged winter deaths campaign, with its message of 'You’ve got to claim it to gain it', aims to help older people get the benefits they need so they can afford to heat their homes properly. 

Currently over £4.5 billion of money in benefits for pensioners goes unclaimed. The campaign will lobby Government for:

• more investment in face-to-face benefits advice services for older people; and
• automatic payment of benefits in the long term.

Get a free Your Winter Warm Up pack

The campaign has also produced 'Your Winter Warm Up' packs, containing:

• practical tips on keeping warm; and
• a greetings card promoting this year’s partnership with the Pension Service. 

You can download a copy of the pack on the right hand side of this page,

The Pension Service greetings card (PDF,508k) includes practical tips on how to keep warm, as well as a voucher for a free benefits check from The Pension Service so that you can check you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to.

How you can help

Help eradicate fuel poverty by getting involved and spreading the message that 'you’ve got to claim it to gain it'.

Download the Pension Service greetings card (PDF,508k) which includes a voucher for a benefits check that will help ensure that the recipient enjoys a warm and healthy winter.

Please download and print the voucher and, if you don't need it yourself, give it to an older person who you think could use it.

Message from June Whitfield

June Whitfield, our Campaign Ambassador says of this year’s campaign:

'Through an ongoing commitment to helping older people in winter, we have learnt that with the right benefits advice and support, older people do receive the benefits they are entitled to.'

You can watch a short promotional film featuring June Whitfield talking about the scandal of winter deaths and the new 'Your Winter Warm Up' pack.