A plumber in England is being hailed as a modern day hero after he founded a social enterprise which has helped more than two million of the UK’s most vulnerable people.
James Anderson, 54, runs DEPHER, the community interest company which provides heavily subsidized services for the those who are struggling with the rising cost of living, up as much as 54% since the beginning of April.
DEPHER stands for Disabled & Elderly Plumbing and Heating Emergency Repairs, and from paying people’s bills they can’t afford, to offering emergency plumbing and heating services, delivering food parcels and covering funeral payments, there is not a lot DEPHER, much like plumbers for that matter, can’t do.
Over the last six years Anderson and his team based in Burnley have helped more than 52,000 families—around two million people across the country.
“[W]hat we try to do is help people realize there is somebody out there who will help them,” said Anderson.
A father of six and grandfather of 4, Anderson has been called “Britain’s kindest plumber,” and an example of that went viral early last week.
“Today I was asked to help a 78-year-old lady, her card was refused because she only had £6.97 in her bank, the ENERGY COMPANY TOOK £765.89 out this morning,” James tweeted.
DEPHER stepped in and not only covered the elderly woman’s shopping costs but got the energy company to issue her a full refund.
Anderson got the idea to launch his catch all social enterprise when he went on a job one day to a gentleman’s house in his hometown of Burnley, in Lancashire. The man had asked James to take a look at his boiler after receiving a £5,500 quote from another company.
“This company had tried to scam this guy for thousands of pounds he didn’t have, for work that he certainly did not need,” Anderson recounts. “This guy was elderly and bed-bound— he was in an extremely vulnerable position. We stepped in and dealt with the company and gave the guy a £1,000 free boiler.”
“I just remember thinking something needs to be done about this,” admitted James. “This happens to so many people, and I thought if I could help just one at a time, I would be doing some good.”
A FREE boiler installed for this #vertran
— Depher CIC UK 🫂 James Anderson (@Depheruk) July 3, 2022
The smile makes me smile, knowing he will be safe, warm and protectedhttps://t.co/5gKE4rb6Iuhttps://t.co/vWlNV1qa5V pic.twitter.com/bgNEzMWHPb
Since then, DEPHER has grown to 13 employees who work all over the country.
“His kindness has saved me, in many ways reminding me of the old days,” said Margaret, a 90-year-old pensioner who received DEPHER’s help.
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A GoFundMe set up to prepare for winter has now received a staggering £63,610 out of their £100,000 goal.
“The more money we get, the more money people have for their bills and to pay for food,” said Anderson.
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