Sickening £5,000 boiler scam inspired former homeless man turned 'Britain's kindest plumber' to save a town
The cost of living crisis is destroying communities, the country and people's 'souls', according to big-hearted James Anderson, the formerly homeless founder of an anti-poverty charity now known as 'Britain's kindest plumber'.
"He was an elderly gentleman up by Burnley Football Club. He was in a bed, had a hoist because he couldn't get up and he had carers coming in every day," James told LancsLive. James had been called-out to the property to give a second opinion as the elderly man had been quoted £5,500 for a new boiler which he could not afford.
However, his charitable work is not only inspired by his struggle with hardship but also by a promise he made during an unimaginable personal tragedy. But starting up a service that provides repairs, feeds and supports struggling families came with its own challenges. James says that in 2017, he was £18,000 in debt when he first began his charity work. It took him three years before he ever saw a penny of his own work come back into his pocket.
"We've been doing it for the last two or three years now. This winter has been severe, it's been very very severe. We went down to house where it was colder inside than it was outside - the young mum is standing there shaking, not because she's scared, because she was that cold. DEPHER's services were stretched so much that the charity ran out of funds to keep going, forcing James to make the difficult decision to put a temporary stop to the charity's services on Thursday.
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