Oscar-winning Hollywood star Kate Winslet has said she was “absolutely destroyed” by the plight of a Tillicoultry family caring for a severely disabled teenager.
Last month the actress donated £17,000 to pay for rising energy costs after mum Carolynne Hunter spoke publicly about her fears she would have to put her child into care if she couldn’t keep up with the bills.
Carolynne’s youngest child Freya, 13, has severe complex health problems and disabilities, is non-verbal and blind and requires full-time oxygen and at-home nursing care.
The mum-of-four’s energy bills are set to soar to £1400 per month, and she spoke to the BBC in November about the struggle of families caring for disabled relatives during the cost of living crisis, particularly those using life-saving equipment.
The story was spotted by Titanic star Kate, who responded to a GoFundMe appeal set up on the family’s behalf.
At the weekend, during an interview for the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Winslet said: “Something popped up on the BBC Scotland news page about this woman, Carolynne Hunter’s story.
“And her saying that she would have to put her child, who has severe cerebral palsy and very, very extreme needs and is non-verbal, that she was going to have to put her child into care because she could not afford her electricity bills.
“And it absolutely destroyed me. I just thought on what planet is anyone going to let that happen, this is completely, completely wrong.
“We were able to track her down and say that I had wanted to make a donation, and it was because of that that they then set up a GoFundMe page, and bang,
I was able to do it right away.
“It was just wrong to me that this woman was going to suffer and that she should have been in any way as a mother forced to make such a heart-breaking decision because she simply didn’t have the support and couldn’t pay the bills.
“I just couldn’t let that happen.”
Asked by Laura Kuenssberg what the story said about the UK as a country, Winslet replied: “The powers that be need to have a good think and they need to get it right.
“And they need to make changes that will actually help these people.”
Carolynne told the Observer last month: “I didn’t create the GoFundMe page, I had just been campaigning (against the rising energy costs) for the last seven months. I was campaigning for the government to do more, not to raise money for Freya.”
However, after seeing the fundraising web page with the mammoth donation from the actress, Carolynne was left stunned and has since been in touch with her via email.
She added: “Kate has given me a platform to highlight the campaign.
“She’s a really kind woman and a really nice person.”
The family’s energy bills were around £225 a month back in March. In April, that rose to £400 per month. As of October it further rose to £505 and is predicted to hit £1400 per month by April.
The Hunters live in a large council house in Tillicoultry - which is not energy efficient - so there is space for Freya’s equipment.
