GB NEWS PRESENTER LAUNCHES FUNDRAISER FOR HELP THE ELDERLY

GB News presenter Patrick Christys has launched a fundraiser for the charity Friends of the Elderly to support people who will struggle to pay for food and heating this winter.

An initial target of £100,000 has been set to help the charity provide life-saving grants to the most vulnerable elderly people in Britain.

The appeal almost hit its target overnight, with over £83,000 donated on JustGiving by 9.30 am the following day from 3,269 viewers.

Launched at the beginning of Patrick’s show, it passed the halfway point after only 90 minutes, with over 2,000 viewers donating to the campaign.

Speaking on GB News Patrick said: “I’m angry. I see a burning injustice in Britain. Our greatest generation, our senior citizens, are being treated like second class citizens.

“Today, it became official that winter fuel payments will be cut. The energy price cap has gone up, so bills could be around 10% higher. Council taxes are set to go up again, and the single person discount may disappear, which would disproportionately affect the elderly.

“In fact, it’s even been nicknamed the widow tax, and now they might even lose their bus passes.

“It breaks my heart to know that this winter, millions of elderly people will be putting on a hat, a coat and gloves in their own front room.

“It breaks my heart that so many of them will have to choose between heating their home and eating a meal that day.

“They’ve paid into the system their whole lives, but now they are at the back of the queue in Britain, and I think that’s wrong, so I thought maybe I could do something to help them out.

“And that’s why I have launched a fundraiser for Friends of the Elderly. I’ve set an initial target of £100,000. Now, I know that sounds like a heck of a lot of money, is a heck of a lot of money, but I know 100% that we can do that.”

Friends of the Elderly is a charity which gives grants to pensioners living in poverty. They predict that this year is set to be their busiest year.

“We will have more pensioners plunged into poverty than ever before. They’ve had elderly people calling them in tears. They literally don’t know where their next meal is coming from.

“So if you donate to https://justgiving.com/page/saveourseniors that money will help save a senior citizen’s life this winter.

“Now, unlike today’s younger generation, who always have their hand out, many seniors are too proud to ask for help, and that means many of them suffer in silence. Well, not on our watch.

“I know you feel that there is a grave injustice here. Our pensioners are getting clobbered so we can just give money away to everybody else. I know you care about that.

“We’ve done some amazing fundraisers at GB News. You raised £130,000 for the mental health charity Mind. We raised nearly half a million pounds for the Royal British Legion. Let’s see what we can do for our elderly.

“I think what’s happening to pensioners in Britain is an absolute scandal so let’s show the elderly that we care.”