Worried this winter?

by Molly Shevlin, CAS senior policy officer, social justice team.

This article was fist published in The Herald on 27 December 2025.

“I have to just try to use as little energy as possible...I don’t know how I will be able to keep myself warm this winter.” 

For advisers across Scotland’s Citizens Advice network, hearing agonising worries like this is a daily experience. Even in the lightest, warmest months of this year (July-September), well over 2,000 people came to their local CAB in need of a fuel voucher.  

Let’s be clear about what that means – more than 2,000 people at crisis point, in need of emergency support to keep the lights on and warm their homes. 

With winter now fully upon us, these pressures will intensify with colder days and longer, darker nights. Thousands of people are losing sleep, anxious about the cost of the essentials that we all need and worried about mounting debts.  

That’s why we’re raising awareness of the support available with our ‘Worried this winter?’ campaign. We want anyone experiencing difficulties to know that their local CAB is here to help. 

Advisers at CABs in 300 locations across Scotland provide free, impartial, confidential advice. Last year, they helped more than 25,000 people with a range of energy-related issues, from emergency support to complex problems.  

One of those people was Ada (not her real name). Living alone in a damp home, with energy debt of more than £1,700 and Universal Credit as her sole income, Ada was really struggling. The multiple, overlapping difficulties in her life left her feeling hopeless. But she wasn’t alone.  

Ada’s local CAB helped her unlock extra social security payments, alleviating her financial pressures. They supported her with an application to her energy supplier’s hardship fund to write-off her debt and get a new cooker, fridge-freezer and washing machine. Through their strong network of partnerships, the CAB also helped Ada with a referral to Home Energy Scotland, which saw her home fully re-insulated and a new central heating system installed. With this tailored, person-centred support, Ada said she could finally breathe again; her home felt like the safe, comfortable place that everyone deserves.  

For people like Ada who’ve been bounced from pillar to post, repeatedly failed by the systems and institutions that should protect them, the CAB network often acts as a safety net. The life-changing advice we provide helps people navigate a path out of hardship when it can feel like there’s nowhere to turn. It reminds people that they don’t have to cope on their own. 

Taking that first step to getting support can be hard. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed, demoralised or even ashamed when you’re struggling. There is absolutely no shame in needing help. Our advice is based on trust, expertise and compassion, and that is exactly what you’ll find at your local CAB.  

In 2026, we will continue to push for the changes we desperately need to address systemic failures entrenching harm for people across Scotland; a warm home should not be a luxury, and energy should be affordable for all of us. While we fight for that change, our network will be here to support anyone in need. To find out more here.