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Kate Winslet donated £17,000 to pay a mother’s skyrocketing energy bill, saying that the situation ‘absolutely destroyed’ her.
The Titanic actress wanted to help Carolynne Hunter and her 12-year-old daughter Freya, who has cerebral palsy, and who relies on receiving oxygen for chronic breathing problems.
According to the BBC, it costs around £6500 per year to run Freya’s equipment and heat the home – although Ms Hunter had been turning off the heating in most rooms to attempt to save money.
After saying she saw a news piece about Ms Hunter and her daughter, Kate said that she read Ms Hunter had said ‘that she would have to put her child, who has severe cerebral palsy and very, very extreme needs and is non-verbal, that she was going to have to put her child into care because she could not afford her electricity bills.’
‘And it absolutely destroyed me. I just thought on what planet is anyone going to let that happen, this is completely, completely wrong,’ she said.
She added on Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: ‘We were able to track her down and say that I had wanted to make a donation, and it was because of that that they then set up a GoFundMe page, and bang, I was able to do it right away.
Kate spoke to Laura Kuenssberg (Picture: PA)
Ms Hunter and her daughter Freya had a £17,000 energy bill (Picture: PA)
‘And it just felt – I just – it was just wrong to me that this woman was going to suffer and that she should have been in any way as a mother forced to make such a heartbreaking decision because she simply didn’t have the support and couldn’t pay the bills.
‘I just couldn’t let that happen.’
Asked what the story means for the UK, Kate went on: ‘I think we just – I mean, people just – the powers that be need to have a good think and they need to get it right.
Kate said their situation ‘destroyed’ her (Picture: PA)
‘And they need to make changes that will actually help these people.’
She said: ‘I have always been really cut in half by the plight of the individual. And there seems to be very little support for individuals whose situations are extreme.’
Ms Hunter previously said of the GoFundMe and Kate’s donation: ‘Our journey as family has been very traumatic and I just feel done at this point in my life.
‘When I heard about the money I just burst into tears – I thought it wasn’t even real. I’m still thinking is this real?’
Kate has also recently been opening up about mental health and recently called on the government to take action over the impact of social media on children’s mental health.
‘I really do struggle with social media,’ Kate admitted during the Laura Kuenssberg interview. ‘I struggle with the impact it is clearly having on teenage mental health.’
She added: ‘I do wish that our government would crack down on it. I do wish that there would be certain platforms that were banned before a certain age.’
Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg airs Sundays at 9am on BBC One.
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‘This is completely, completely wrong.’
