{"id":17138,"date":"2025-07-15T23:34:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T22:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsmediauk.org\/?post_type=case-studies&#038;p=17138"},"modified":"2025-07-21T16:11:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T15:11:51","slug":"winter-fuel-sos","status":"publish","type":"case-studies","link":"https:\/\/newsmediauk.org\/blog\/case-studies\/winter-fuel-sos\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter Fuel SOS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Sun launched its Winter Fuel SOS campaign to support thousands of pensioners facing uncertainty over their energy bills. Following the Chancellor\u2019s announcement that the \u00a3300 Winter Fuel Payment would become means-tested, the campaign aimed to ensure older people were not left in the cold due to confusion or lack of access to support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More than 800,000 pensioners risked missing out on the payment, many simply because they had not registered for Pension Credit. To tackle this, The Sun assembled a dedicated Winter Fuel SOS crew, including consumer experts from Octopus Energy and Which?, as well as from AGE UK and The Sun\u2019s head of consumer Tara Evans, and Sun Savers editor Lana \u00adClements. Former Pensions Minister Sir Steve Webb offered practical advice and guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Sun opened its phone lines and inbox to readers, inviting pensioners and their families to get in touch. Thousands responded, seeking help to understand their eligibility and how to claim support. Those who couldn\u2019t speak to someone on the day were promised a call back within a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Sun editor-in-chief Victoria Newton said: &#8220;The huge number of calls into the Sun\u2019s hotline this week has highlighted just how important our SOS campaign is, and how much of an issue the loss of the Winter Fuel Payment is for so many older readers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Sun has a long history of campaigning to make our readers&#8217; lives easier and providing advice on how they can combat the increased cost of living.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"767\" height=\"674\" src=\"https:\/\/newsmediauk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Sun-SOS-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17140\" srcset=\"https:\/\/newsmediauk.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Sun-SOS-2.png 767w, https:\/\/newsmediauk.org\/wp-content\/smush-webp\/2025\/07\/Sun-SOS-2-300x264.png.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 767px) 100vw, 767px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to expert advice, The Sun rolled out a new newsletter series focused on saving money on heating bills. The campaign has already helped readers like 80-year-old Neil from Fife, who said he was grateful for the chance to speak to someone and get help understanding his options. Neil said, \u201cI am very grateful to The Sun for doing this. It may turn out I don\u2019t qualify, but it is nice to know someone cares and is on hand to help.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t use the internet, so it was really helpful to speak to someone on the phone and get help working out if I might qualify for pension credit. If you don\u2019t try, you don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The campaign also worked with charity Turn2Us to launch an interactive benefits checker, allowing readers to quickly find out if they\u2019re missing out on entitlements. Michael Clarke, head of information programmes at Turn2Us, said the tool could be a lifeline for the 700,000 eligible pensioners still not claiming Pension Credit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":17139,"template":"","published":[64],"region":[20],"class_list":["post-17138","case-studies","type-case-studies","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","published-64","region-national-campaigns"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Winter Fuel SOS - News Media Association<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newsmediauk.org\/blog\/case-studies\/winter-fuel-sos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Winter Fuel SOS - News Media Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Sun launched its Winter Fuel SOS campaign to support thousands of pensioners facing uncertainty over their energy bills. Following the Chancellor\u2019s announcement that the \u00a3300 Winter Fuel Payment would become means-tested, the campaign aimed to ensure older people were not left in the cold due to confusion or lack of access to support. 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