A PENSIONER who has been without heating for 14 months will be cosy and warm this winter, thanks to the huge generosity of Limerick Post readers. Last week, the paper highlighted the plight of 70-year old Dolores Ward who lives in Little St. Joseph Street and whose central heating gas boiler has been broken since last August 12 months. Dolores spent last Winter going to bed every day at 2pm to stay warm because she couldn’t afford to replace the boiler.
Having lost her husband last year, Dolores does not have children who could help her situation.
But after her plight was highlighted in The Post, several readers rang with offers of help and support.
At least three people offered to pay for a new boiler while a number of suppliers and registered fitters offered to supply and install it for free and one woman even opened a Facebook page to start fundraisers.
The woman who wanted to fundraise said that she had “an amazing response when I set up the Facebook page. When you see a case like this, a lot of people think, that could be my own mother and they want to do something to help”.
At time of going to press, the 70-year-old widow was waiting for workers to arrive and install her new boiler.
“I just can’t thank people enough for what they have done and I can’t thank The Post enough, This is just fantastic,” said Dolores, who will now look forward to a cosy Christmas in her Limerick home.
Meanwhile, organisations representing older people are reminding neighbours and friends to keep an eye on them as winter deepens. Many older people are facing a winter of fuel poverty and hypothermia can be a serious problem.
