AN emergency plumbing and heating repair charity is raising £100,000 to stop families having to choose between heating and eating with energy bills set to soar.

Depher CIC, established in Burnley, has set up a fundraiser on GoFundMe with the purpose of helping families from April when heating prices are set to increase again.

The fundraiser has already made more than £12,000 and James Anderson, the founder of Depher, has put aside another £38,000 from the company's other funds so they can help as many people as possible who may end up having to choose between buying food or paying their bills.

James said: “It’s so important because we need to make sure now as a company we have funding so we can keep vulnerable people out of poverty.

“That will put children in a position where they may have to go without food, without warmth.

“We have put this money aside ready for April, like (financial journalist) Martin Lewis who has put aside £100,000 to help people.”

Depher was founded in 2017 and has been operating nationally not only to help those who need boiler repairs, but also help families buy food and paying energy bills for those financially unable to.

James has already noticed an increase in people seeking help since the energy price rise in late 2021 and is worried about how many more will come seeking help from April.

James added: “The increase up to now already before April – people are getting in a situation where they are already doing their prioritising before April and you’ve got the price rise then maybe another in October.

“We just know that people are going to really struggle and it’s not right – parents shouldn’t ever have to decide whether their child is warm or has food.

“Elderly people who have worked all their life and paid into society and now they may not be able to pay their bills when they are already scraping by every week.

“We are doing what we can, but the Government needs to step in and do something about this.”

Customers are currently protected from the soaring international gas price by the cap on energy bills, which limits costs to £1,277 for an average household.

But Ofgem is going to announce a new price cap level on February 7 – before it comes into force on April 1.

The level has yet to be decided, though analysts have predicted a jump to nearly £2,000.

Visit gofundme.com and search 'Depher' to donate.