Those who’ve turned to us live everywhere: from the Northern Isles to the South Coast and every region in between. But if they all lived in one place, it would be the equivalent of the entire population of the West Midlands, Greater Manchester, or the North East losing access to heat, light, and power simply because they couldn’t afford it.
When this many people are living without uninterrupted access to energy, we must ask an uncomfortable question: is the system designed to keep people warm, safe, and connected still fit for purpose?
The changing face of fuel poverty and fuel crisis
When Fuel Bank Foundation began, emergency fuel support was mostly about helping people facing a one off crisis.
Today, people are coming to us because they repeatedly struggle to afford energy. By the time they reach us, they’ve often been living on the edge for weeks or months, with little food, worn‑out clothing they cannot replace, and other bills they can’t meet.
This is not due to lack of effort. People tell us about cutting back, saving where they can, and doing everything possible to make ends meet. But the numbers no longer add up.
Real lives, persistent struggle
One woman rebuilding her life after domestic violence and homelessness told us how starting again on a low income proved impossible. She resorted to emergency meter credit, but couldn’t repay it and lost her supply.
A young mother living with long‑term health issues described constant guilt, and worry and pressure every month as she tries to cover the basics for herself and her daughter.
A terminally ill man spent years living without carpet, and a working washing machine and shower because he couldn’t afford to replace them while keeping himself warm and fed.
And a single parent described only warming the house for an hour before her son’s bedtime so he could fall asleep.
These stories aren’t outliers. They are the everyday reality of the countless people living in fuel poverty so deep they’re constantly on the edge of fuel crisis.
If we change nothing, it gets worse
In the past three years, we’ve issued 111% more fuel vouchers compared to the three years before – that’s more than double. This is partly because we’ve grown in recent years and have been able to reach and support more people. But it also reflects a wider trend that we cannot ignore.
Fuel crisis is not a temporary issue, and short-term fixes won’t solve it. If we change nothing at a systems level, we knowingly allow the trajectory of this nation-wide crisis to continue – and likely worsen.
Energy prices remain too high and are highly vulnerable to global instability. The same goes for food prices – which already place strain on people’s budgets, and are likely to rise again this winter due to extreme heat and drought.
When people are already coming to us hungry, without heat or light, and living without essential household items, we must ask what they will face if those same basics continue to get more expensive.
A shared responsibility – and the need for systems change
Fuel Bank Foundation’s team, partners, and funders have ensured that millions of households did not have to face living in cold, dark homes. We are proud of that work.
But emergency help should be a safety net — not something people rely on time and again to survive. The scale of need shows that the system is not protecting those who need it most, and that change is not happening quickly enough.
Our long‑term ambition is to make ourselves unnecessary: a UK where everyone can afford uninterrupted access to the energy they need for daily life.
That future is only possible through systems change. We need policies that make keeping warm affordable for people currently at risk of self rationing or going without energy. We must also implement protections that stop people being pushed into crisis, and create structures that protect people from being cut off from the basics during the coldest months due to affordability alone.
We cannot reach that future alone. We need stakeholders, funders, policymakers, and industry leaders to work with us to create it. The path forward requires collective effort — and it begins with acknowledging what this number is really telling us.
More than 2.5 million people having needed emergency fuel support should not be normal. And it should not continue.
