Cost of living crisis: ‘I can’t afford the electricity to charge my wheelchair’

Disabled people are facing poverty due to rising costs

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By Natalie Bloomer

Charities are calling for more help for disabled people

Holly Donovan, 37, from Corby can’t sleep at night due to her worries over rising costs. She has already cut back to the bare minimum - she only eats one meal a day, showers just once a week and turns her boiler off each morning, instead using boiled water from the kettle to wash plates and cold water to wash her hands. This is before the energy price cap is increased in October, after that she doesn’t know what she will do.

Holly is one of many disabled people at the centre of the cost of living crisis. She lives with chronic pain and mobility issues due to a rare form of childhood cancer which she suffered from between the ages of 18 months and 10 years-old. The condition affected her growth and left her with a fused spine and she has to use an electric wheelchair when leaving the house. She relies solely on disability benefits to get by.

“I wish I could wave a magic wand and make myself well enough to get a job but I can’t and there’s nothing I can do about that,” she says.

“Things were already difficult but rising costs mean I can no longer afford to leave my home unless I’m going to a hospital appointment because I can’t afford the electricity to charge my wheelchair. I can’t go out and socialise with my friends or go to the events they do, it’s really upsetting to always say ‘sorry I can’t afford it’.”

According to the disability charity Sense seven million people living in poverty are either disabled or live with a disabled person. Research carried out by the organisation this year found that over half of disabled households are in debt and 38 per cent of those asked said they were already skipping meals. 74 per cent of family carers said that if prices continue to rise they will be unable to cope.

“I can only afford to eat one meal a day, I can’t afford breakfast and lunch so I just have a meal in the evening. If I really want to treat myself I’ll have a bag of crisps,” Holly says.

The crisis comes off the back of a decade of austerity which saw many disabled people impacted by cuts to services and changes to benefits. Then there was the pandemic - six out of every 10 people to die with Covid were disabled.

“It feels relentless, it’s one thing after another. It’s like an all out attack on disabled people.

“We all just keep asking what else we can cut back on. A friend of mine is visually impaired and he said the only thing left he can cut back on is lighting which is really dangerous for him as he has problems with his sight and needs the lights on to help him see.

“My condition means that when I have a shower I need to be in there for about an hour. I used to have one every other day but now it’s once a week at best and sometimes every 10 days because I just can’t afford it.”

The colder weather in the autumn and winter is also a big concern for Holly. She says she experiences a lot of pain when the temperature drops and needs to heat her home properly to help with that.

“I’m in agony when it’s cold, the pain is so bad I can’t think straight. Being able to afford to heat my home properly would make my quality of life so much better.”

Next month 6 million people will receive a £150 payment from the government to help with rising costs but many charities say this is not enough. Sense is calling for benefits to be increased in line with inflation, more financial support and targeted help for disabled children and their families.

“There are additional costs associated with disability. Disabled people cannot simply choose to stop using energy for essential equipment like electric wheelchairs, oxygen machines, feeding pumps or nebulisers. They have to buy their own equipment and aids to complete basic tasks. They often need the heating on all day for medical conditions,” Richard Kramer, CEO of Sense says.

“Families can only stretch a budget so far. At Sense, we hear first-hand about the dilemmas people face: parents cutting back on food or using food banks; families having to leave soiled clothes unwashed to save on energy; people struggling to afford to run lifesaving medical equipment, such as ventilators. The situation will only worsen when energy prices increase and winter kicks in.”

Holly agrees that more support is needed. 

“My quality of life has nosedived. It’s terrifying and so stressful to think about what happens next. Something has to give, disabled people are having to make decisions and do things that cause us more pain or lead us to being more isolated.

“Disabled people don’t have to be a burden, we have so much to offer so many skills and life experience but we feel under constant attack. More support is needed both from government and local authorities. Right now it feels like we’re being overlooked and ignored.”