A couple in their 70s who were facing winter with no heating after nine years of boiler issues have been donated a new one for free thanks to an “angel in disguise” and an anonymous public donation.
Ann and Keith Hartley, aged 71 and 74 respectively, have had a malfunctioning boiler in their home in Burnley, Lancashire, for almost a decade but it stopped working completely this year – ahead of a winter of soaring living costs.
Faced with a “freezing” home and unable to afford a costly replacement with their monthly pension earnings of around £1,000, the couple reached out to Disabled and Elderly Plumbing and Heating Emergency Response (Depher).
The charity provides free plumbing and heating services to those in financial need and was founded in 2017 by James Anderson, 55, from Burnley, who assessed their boiler.
In a tweet posted after visiting the couple’s home, Mr Anderson said he was brought to tears by the couple’s situation and asked for donations as they could not afford the £1,695 it would cost to replace it.
Within hours an anonymous member of the public, who has helped to fund five boilers previously, donated the money needed to cover the £695 cost of the unit.
Mr Anderson also helped the couple to apply for a £400 rebate from Burnley Council and said he would install the boiler for free, meaning they would not have to pay anything.
“We were both dumbfounded, we were stuck for words… (Mr Anderson) was like an angel in disguise to be quite honest, we were both very emotional about it,” Mrs Hartley told the PA news agency.
“I cried, my husband cried.
“We didn’t think it was possible for somebody to help us, it doesn’t normally happen to us.”
Mrs Hartley added they “couldn’t thank” the person who donated £695 “enough”.
Mrs Hartley said increasing financial pressures brought on by the cost-of-living crisis have caused her to have “bad anxiety and depression” as the couple are “battling to put food on the table” and pay bills.
Mr Anderson told PA that after speaking to the couple, he felt he had to help them.
He said: “The cost-of-living crisis is causing anxiety and depression, which is really, really bad.
“So it had come to a stage where I thought ‘I’ve got to do something about this, I’ve got to help them as much as I possibly can’.
“So that’s when I came up with the idea of putting them a free boiler in.”
On the cost-of-living crisis, Mr Anderson said “we’ve got to make changes to make it better so we can all get through it together as a community.”
Despite living off a total household income of around £1000 a month from their pensions, Mr and Mrs Hartley still plan to donate clothes and goods to charity this winter.
Mrs Hartley said: “I just think that somewhere along the line, we all should be able to help in one way or another, and I feel that that’s our way of doing it.
“Even if we can just put a couple of fleeces on somebody’s back.”
She added: “If (Mr Anderson) says ‘I need help with this or I need help with that’, we’ll be first in line.
“If they want help with soup kitchens and that kind of thing.
“Monetary wise we can’t help, but if we can help with ourselves then, in any way we can, we definitely will help.”
The couple heard about the charity via an app called Next Door, a platform which allows neighbours to communicate and share information with each other.
Mr Anderson was awarded Local Business of the Year by Next Door, and other users shared how he had helped them with their boilers.
Roisin O’Neill, Head of Community at Nextdoor said: “James epitomises the spirit of Nextdoor – being kind to your neighbours and helping out when they are in need.
“That’s why he was awarded Nextdoor’s Local Business of the Year in our annual Good Neighbourhood Awards.
“His business is critical at this time of year and especially in the current economic climate and we’re so pleased he’s able to use our platform to reach more people.”
Actor Hugh Grant has previously donated tens of thousands of pounds to Depher, most recently giving £10,000 in June 2022.
