Farm News
From chilly to tropical
Lisa Scott lives with her partner Anthony and four children on a farm , Eastgate House , in Eastgate , County Durham . They have 600-700 Swaledale sheep and mules and 100 suckler cows .
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THE FAMILY WAS FEELING THE COLD . Their detached five-bed stone-built farmhouse is high up on a hill , and their Hunter Herald 13 multifuel boiler was only powerful enough to heat up four out of their eight radiators - although it had only been installed for six or seven years .
The problem seemed to be that the farmhouse was just too big for the boiler . The family had got used to piling on another jumper and pairs of woolly socks to keep warm . Lisa said : “ It was so cold we were getting dressed to go to bed . That ’ s when I heard about Rural Funding Services .
“ I found them on Facebook and contacted Andy Crawford , the funding director . He told us about the government funding for ‘ greener ’ heating and said that we qualified for help because we have a high rate of child tax credit . We have a little one , Imogen , who is eight and severely autistic . We get a higher rate of disability living allowance for her , so we were eligible to have an oil boiler put in .
“ The only snag was we didn ’ t actually have an oil boiler . We had the Hunter Herald , which is a multi-fuel stove . Andy ’ s team came out to the farm and did a review and within ten days they were back with a Worcester Bosch A-rated boiler . They set about converting the radiators that we had . The whole process happened within three weeks .”
‘ Any farmers who receive the qualifying benefits should apply to Rural Funding Services for help .’
After the work was done , a delighted Lisa described the change as ‘ like living in Barbados .’ She said : “ I have lived here two years in December and there has always been one radiator that we thought had never worked . When the lads turned the oil boiler on , that radiator got smoking hot . It was my partner Anthony ’ s 31st birthday on that Friday and it was the best birthday present we could have ever had .”
Rural Funding Services has also improved heating for Lisa ’ s fatherin-law , who suffers from the health condition sarcoidosis , related to sheep dip . Lisa , who has also not been well this year having had a knee replacement , explained : “ He spent nearly six months in James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough and they didn ’ t think he would survive . His house is four-bedroom and he did have oil central heating , but his boiler wasn ’ t up to standard . Rural Funding Services got him a new Worcester Bosch boiler .”
She added : “ I cannot thank Andy and Rural Funding Services enough . The last couple of months have been slightly cooler , but at 5.30am when I hear the boiler kick in , I know I won ’ t have to
run from my bedroom to the bathroom because it ’ s so cold !
“ When I first spoke to Andy and the team I was a little bit like : ‘ Oh , I don ’ t want to get my fingers burned . Someone is really going to give me oil central heating for free ? But it ’ s true . We have paid absolutely nothing . We originally had a quote for the same boiler , and to get it and install it would have cost around £ 6,500 .
“ There are plenty of farmers out there who would struggle to put new heating in . Any famers who receive the qualifying benefits should apply to Rural Funding Services for help .”
You can contact Rural Funding Services on 01642 909660 or e-mail info @ ruralfundingservices . co . uk
24 Oct / Nov 2017 www . farmers-mart . co . uk