With Debt Awareness Week taking place this week from 26th January to 2nd February, Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central Jenny Willott, is urging local residents to take advantage of free help and support available for anyone struggling with winter energy bills.

The organisers of Debt Awareness Week, StepChange Debt Charity, is working with British Gas, The British Gas Energy Trust and others across the country to help people manage their bills.

Last year, British Gas spent more than £380 million helping 1.8 million vulnerable households with discounts, free insulation and benefits advice.

The British Gas Energy Trust is an independent charity that helps people struggling to pay their gas and electricity bills and has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. British Gas has provided the Trust with £75 million over the past decade and in 2013 the Trust provided nearly 12,000 awards totalling over £7million through a network of advice centres across the UK. In Wales this network includes Riverside and Speakeasy advice centres in Cardiff.

The Trust is open to everyone, not just British Gas customers, and to register for extra help, customers or someone acting on their behalf should call 0800 072 8625, or 0800 294 8604 if they have a Pay As You Go meter.

Commenting, Jenny Willott said:

“For many people, January is a time to look at their finances especially after the cost of Christmas. Debt Awareness Week is an important reminder that there is a lot of help and advice out there for anyone having problems with their energy or other household bills.

“The Lib Dems in Government have made it a priority to make Britain greener whilst reducing energy bills so it is now much easier to switch to a different energy supplier. There is a plenty of advice and support out there and I urge all local residents in Cardiff Central to use the help on offer to find out how much they can save.”