Set the heating to 5 degrees in winter, shower in the gym and cook less. Hanny Heuvelink (58) from Tilburg has been living in dire energy poverty for years. She has become a figurehead for people with little money. She received free solar panels and an electric heater on Monday. “I am absolutely speechless.”
“This is very special! How?”, Hanny responds. “Very strange that I won’t be in the cold anymore! Then I can invite people, I haven’t been able to do that for years!”, she says. “For years I went to bed earlier because of the cold.”
Exactly two years ago, the Tilburg woman told her story at Omroep Brabant. Hanny receives social assistance benefits and has to live on a few tenners a week. Energy prices skyrocketed, so that became increasingly difficult.
Martijn Loonen is director and co-owner of M&R Solar Group, which sponsored the panels and stove. “This is not normal. This is simply not possible, everyone should be able to sit normally.”
“I find it much worse for others than for myself.”
Yet this was not so easy. “That really had to be done in detours,” says Hanny. Donating the solar panels directly to her was not possible. “Then the municipality sees this as an asset.” She could then be cut back on her social assistance benefit. That is why the panels are donated to the landlord of her house, who also takes care of maintenance for her.
“Many more people are in the same situation. I find it much worse for them than for myself. Some people have plenty of mold in their homes because they no longer heat.”
Because of the lower energy costs, now with the panels, Hanny has also bought an electric hob. “At least now I can make simmering steaks,” she beams. “I’m really happy!”
“Many people can come here to warm up.”
Hanny is now a familiar face. She volunteers as an assistant citizen council member. She also does voluntary work for the Tilburg foundation Quiet, which fights against poverty. “More and more people are coming out with it. Dare to ask for help,” is her advice. She also gives people tips on how to save energy.
Warm as Hanny is, she doesn’t think about herself now either. Immediately after unwrapping the gift, she says: “I’m going to invite a lot of people who can warm up with me.”
