A couple who needs to have their heating on, due to the wife's health, is being forced to prioritise the rising costs of their energy bill over any other bills. Gary and Natasha Waterhouse need to have the heating on at all times because Natasha has a spinal cord tumour, located in such a position that it now affects her body's ability to regulate temperature.
Her condition means extreme levels of cold and heat cause her pain. Gary also has his own health problems, he has a sleeping disorder called sleep apnea, which means his breathing stops and starts repeatedly.
The condition can have some very serious consequences. At night he uses a CPAP machine, a specialist piece of equipment that provides air at a pressure high enough to stop a person's airway from collapsing.
The couple, who have been together for 11 years and have children, now face extreme financial difficulties because of how expensive their energy bill is. They currently spend £200 on electricity, while their gas bill has shot up from £30 per month to £130.
Speaking with the Mirror, Gary, from Bourne near Peterborough, explained: "We've had to prioritise our electricity to keep me alive. No exaggeration. So the other bills have had to take a back seat because we've had to have electricity no matter what. Because we're on a prepayment meter, if we don't have electricity, it stops."
The couple is worried that they will have to suffer a tough winter because of how steep the energy bills are. They fear that they're not in a financial situation where they can cope with such high costs, and fear they'll go up even more.
Gary had to leave a well-paid job in the civil service to become Natasha's full-time carer. The pair had previously held down jobs since the age of 14, with Natasha having worked in office administration, and previously enjoyed an income of around £60,000.
Now they rely mainly on benefits, meaning the extraordinary financial pressures of the last few months have hit them hard. As a carer, Gary receives carers' allowance amounting to around 41p per hour (or £69.70 a week) and says getting somebody in to do the job would set them back £15 an hour, which is far beyond what they could afford.
He attempted to improve their way of life by getting a car on finance to drive as a taxi, however, the high-interest payments plunged him into deeper debt. Gary said: "The taxi lasted two months because the engine went. It now needs money spending on it, money I haven't got, so now I'm in a worse situation, trying to work my way out of it.
"I've tried to keep three teenagers happy, fed, watered. It's been tough emotionally and physically." The family has used food banks, and while Gary understands the feeling of being 'too proud' to do it, he encourages others to seek similar help. He's also faced some negative comments about those who receive benefits.
The dad added: "They called me work-shy, this, that, and the other. They just don't understand people's circumstances. And people say, 'Why don't you go out to work and get a carer?' Well, they cost more money."
He added: "Carers in this country are forgotten about really, sadly. I had a meeting online yesterday with Turn2us and Carers UK, and everybody said how much money carers save the national health service.
"We just need help from the government for people like me where we can work part-time to hopefully better our lives and not go cap in hand all the time." In a bid to boost their finances, Gary now picks up taxi work in the evenings, which he fits in around caring for Natasha, and their children have also helped out at times, lending them money for electricity from their part-time jobs.
Looking ahead, Gary fears what's going to come next and tries not to think about it too much to avoid feeling anxious and stressed. He says he feels like they've returned to 'square one' after initially trying to better their circumstances through taxi driving, and believes there's currently 'no help for anybody on the benefits treadmill'.
With all the pressures of the festive season, Gary feels fortunate that their kids are older now, and have not asked for too much this Christmas. Gary, who says the family is still looking forward to Christmas this year, added: "So as long as we get food, that's the main thing. We've been making cutbacks for Christmas for the last few years, so this won't be much of a change. It'll be just token presents for everybody and then just basically being together as the main thing.
"Presents are material, but family time is the main thing for us, and that's what we thrive on."
