Actress Kate Winslet has put an end to the ordeal of a Scottish family, according to the British channel BBC Scotland. The interpreter of Rose in “Titanic” made a donation of 17,000 pounds (about 19,000 euros) on an online kitty opened by the mother of a severely disabled 12-year-old child, who could no longer pay her bills of electricity.
Her daughter Freya, who has cerebral palsy, needs 24-hour life support. However, the very sharp rise in energy prices in the United Kingdom had plunged this British family (Freya is the youngest of four siblings) into serious fuel poverty, forcing them to save money on heating their residence.
Carolynne Hunter had therefore launched a kitty on GoFundMe on Wednesday, to ask for help. “When I heard about the money (paid by Kate Winslet, Editor’s note), I burst into tears – I thought it was not real. I always wonder: is it really true? “, she testified on BBC Scotland.
No government response
Despite her relief, the mother of the family denounced the inaction of the authorities. “Although I have campaigned publicly for seven months on the consequences of rising energy prices for my daughter (…), the British and Scottish governments have ignored my calls for the implementation of ‘proper support to avert a health crisis for my family,’ she wrote on GoFundMe.
“I will be helped, but what about the others? I wanted the government to pay for it and do the right thing – it shouldn’t be up to a celebrity to step in,” she also asked on British television.
The United Kingdom is, like many European countries, faced with a sharp rise in the cost of energy after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the stoppage of Russian gas and oil supplies. The British economy would however be more affected than those of France, Germany or Italy according to the BBC, which explains this situation in part by Brexit, making it “difficult for small businesses to trade with Europe” and slowing down the arrival of “European workers”. “As a result, the economy is less productive, less resilient, less flexible and less responsive,” according to the British media.