BETTER off people receiving Winter Fuel Payments are being urged to donate it to someone for whom the extra money could mean the difference between life and death.

The Surviving Winter campaign aims to raise £100,000 so people on the breadline don't face the choice of 'heating or eating'.

Justin Sargent, chief executive of Somerset Community Foundation, the charity organising the appeal, said the county sees an average 340 winter-related deaths annually, mostly elderly people in cold homes.

And around 2,500 people are hospitalised with serious health conditions, while dozens more visit their GP or suffer in silence.

The Surviving Winter campaign was the brainchild of a pensioner and was launched in 2010, since when more than £400,000 has been raised.

Mr Sargent said: "It's unbearable to think that among us there are older people who won't survive the winter simply because they're too cold or will suffer in silence because they're lonely.

"Shocking as it may seem, too many people really do face a choice of eating or heating.

"One exceptionally thoughtful philanthropic act of kindness has inspired hundreds of others to help strangers they will never meet to enjoy the simple pleasure of staying warm, keeping well and enjoying company."

Supporters include Michael Eavis, Peter Stringfellow, Lord Archer and the Bishop of Bath and Wells, the Rt Rev Peter Hancock.

He said: "Winter can be a hard time for older people in fuel poverty.

"They can additionally suffer the effects of greater loneliness at this time because money that could have gone on transport or social activities has to be spent on fuel.

"I know many people in Somerset need their top up payment from the Government, but if you don’t then can you donate to someone in greater need?”

Donations are channelled to older people in the greatest need through charities, including Age UK Somerset and the Community Council for Somerset’s Village Agent programme.

Around 500 people in more than 300 households were helped last year, including one woman who received a Surviving Winter grant.

She had undergone an amputation and was practically immobile, when a village agent found her trying to keep warm by heating a kettle as she had run out of money to pay for heating, food or her phone.

A Surviving Winter grant quickly restored the heating, and the agent alerted other agencies that put in place the care she needed.

Winter Fuel Payments ranging from £150 to £300 are received between mid-November and Christmas by people born before May 6, 1953.

You can donate online at www.somersetcf.org.uk/winter by phone on 01749-344949 or by cheque payable to Somerset Community Foundation - write SW on the back - at Yeoman House, Bath and West Showground, Shepton Mallet BA4 6QN.