Ratby: Gas outage supplies donated to charity

Supplies given to villagers in Leicestershire during a gas outage are now being donated to charity.

Residents of Ratby and Kirby Muxloe were left without heating for a week after a water pipe burst on 30 January.

Cadent established a village hall base where heaters, blankets and other supplies were handed out.

Now gas has been restored, the community has come together to pass on the supplies to people in "greater need".

The supplies are being collected at three points in Ratby and two further locations in Kirby Muxloe, before being sent to Help the Homeless Leicester.

Vicky Francis, of Ratby, said: "When we were all cut off from gas we were worried about the situation being quite cold in our homes and not having a way to easily cook a meal for the kids and stuff like that.

"We were really grateful that Cadent were at the village hall handing out bits we might need."

When she returned home with the supplies, Ms Francis said she thought they would certainly help but it did not feel necessary.

"I thought, wouldn't it be nice if the same kind of resource could be thrown at people with much greater need," she said.

"There's people out there that don't have electricity or a roof over their head.

"This stuff was really helpful but just being in a situation where life was a bit harder for a week made me realise just how hard it is for other people.

"So we just wanted to pass that kindness on really."

Arif Voraji, of Help the Homeless Leicester, said the donations would make a difference to people supported by the charity.

"They're some of the most marginalised people," he said.

"We specialise in helping people that are just coming out of homelessness or are newly-accommodated.

"Some are waiting for white goods to be delivered, and in the meantime, the heaters, table-top cookers, the electric blankets, are going to help massively."

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