Candlelit vigil to remember the thousands who die during winter months
A candlelit vigil has been held in memory of the thousands of people in the UK who die unnecessarily during the winter period.
The ceremony was held at The Crossing at St. Pauls on Wednesday and was organised by the Walsall and West Midlands branches of the Pensioners' Convention.
Graham Garbet, chairman of the Walsall branch, said: "The UK has an appalling record on cold related deaths with one older person dying every seven minutes from the winter cold.
"Successive Governments have ignored the problem of winter deaths.
"The key is to make sure that older people have got well insulated, warm homes and the income needed to pay bills."
Figures from the Office of National Statistics state that in 2014/15 there were 43,900 'excess' winter deaths in England and Wales representing 27 per cent more deaths in those months than non-winter months.
Last year the number fell to 34,000 and 34 candles were lit at the vigil to mark those.
Mayor Marco Longhi, who attended the service, said: "It was a very moving ceremony to raise the profile and acknowledge the plight of so many elderly people who through a combination of loneliness, inadequate housing and even perhaps financial distress, ultimately don't make it through the winter.
"It was to highlight the unnecessary suffering of people in our country which is one of the richest in the world and it is a problem we need to sort out."
He added: "It is about reducing social isolation. Some of our ethnic groups in our town of Walsall do that better than the white ethnic population.
"It is about making sure people are cared for in an appropriate and warm environment."
