Please Help Me To Survive

Edited to add: Any excess will go towards having our boiler moved from the loft which I have now been quoted £1000 for! The boiler being in the loft and only having a ladder means that, due to health and safety, our council have told us that gas engineers can refuse to service it as we do not have fixed steps to the loft. We live in a bungalow, a very small one. There is no space to put steps.

Hello. My name is Anni and I am very embarrassed creating this GoFundMe but a few people have asked me to so here I am.

I am a 36 year old mother of 2 from Somerset. I also have severe M.E, Fibromyalgia, Generalised Anxiety Disorder and OCD.

I am unable to work due to illness and my husband is my main caregiver.

About 9-12 months ago British Gas forced me onto a prepayment meter, despite being vulnerable and on the priority register. They gave me the ultimatum that either I agree or they would change it remotely and charge me for it.

I am in £2000 in debt for both gas and electricity due to banking issues I had previously and British Gas not informing me that my DDs had been failing (at the time I had severe mental health issues and wasn't keeping up to date with my payments.) Every other company I have been in touch with have been understanding...except British Gas.

They won't even entertain the idea of putting me back on a credit meter until my debt is under £500 which is something I desperately need but cannot afford. Our gas is constantly disconnecting because I cannot afford to top it up, and I need a constant gas and electricity supply due to my disabilities. When this happens we have to reconnect it manually at the meter and then I have to get someone out to reboot the boiler as it is in the loft and I cannot do it myself. The council gas engineers have said that the loft is too dangerous for them to work on the boiler (it needs a part replacing but they can't do the work as there are scattered boards and no rail) and so just top up the pressure for it to go again a week or so later. We've raised it with the council but nothing has been done.

Every donation, no matter how small, will help us to reduce the debt. We have already been in touch with the British Gas Energy Trust but they won't help because of the amount of the debt so we need to reduce it so that we can get it under the threshold but it's not something we can do in the short term.

I'm also £300 in debt with my council tax and I have food intolerances which mean that my grocery bill is quite high and I struggle to eat sometimes. Any amount over my debt amounts will go towards feeding myself and my family.

I have a history of pneumonia and have been hospitilised twice. The last time the doctor said that the coldness and dampness of my bungalow contributed to my rapid decline and that I was lucky I was admitted when I was otherwise I might not be here to write this story.

I appreciate every ounce of help and support I can get. I'm the kind of person who will usually just struggle on in silence but this whole situation has made me suicidal and I owe it to my kids to ask for help, for their sake as they don't deserve to be in an environment that is constantly freezing cold and without hot water.

Thank you for reading.