IF YOU receive Winter Fuel Allowance but feel you don't really need it, how about donating it to charity?

Dorset Community Foundation, the charitable foundation behind the Surviving Winter Appeal, is urging local residents to donate their unwanted winter fuel allowance as part of Giving Tuesday – an initiative which encourages people to support charities through donations.

The appeal calls on recipients of the Winter Fuel Allowance who feel they can live comfortably without it to pass it on to someone else in Dorset who is struggling to decide between heating and eating.

Chief Executive of Dorset Community Foundation, Jon Yates, said: "Dorset has a real issue with fuel poverty and many older people struggle, with hundreds dying each year.

"Giving Tuesday is the perfect opportunity to donate to the Surviving Winter Appeal as the gesture might be saving someone’s life – here in Dorset!"

The Surviving Winter Appeal re-launched at the beginning of November with an emotive photo opportunity where staff and volunteers of Dorset Community Foundation laid out 520 pairs of slippers on Bournemouth beach to represent the number of people dying locally each year.

Since the appeal started in 2011, the foundation has supported hundreds of local older people. Last year the charity raised over £75,000, helping over 300 households.

If you'd like to donate your winter allowance send a cheque made out to Dorset Community Foundation to: DCF, The Spire, High Street, Poole, BH15 1DF or alternatively donate online through www.dorsetcommunityfoundation.org.