7:44 a.m. ET, January 17, 2021
UK plumber has helped over 2,000 vulnerable families fix heating and plumbing during the pandemic for free
From CNN's Kelsie Smith
Photos of customers James Anderson has helped through his non-profit organization DEPHER (Disabled and Elderly Plumbing and Heating Emergency Response).
James Anderson
Thousands of elderly and disabled individuals in the UK have received emergency heating and plumbing repairs at no cost during the pandemic thanks to a kind-hearted plumber.
James Anderson, 53, of Burnley, a town in northern England, has provided over 2,000 free emergency repair services for the disabled and elderly community during the pandemic, he told CNN.
"From the beginning of 2020 and through the pandemic we have worked seven days a week to deliver what the people need," Anderson wrote in a post to Facebook. "We have faced the fight with you and continue to do so until the end, we will never abandon you."
Anderson, a plumber with over 21 years of experience, set out to protect and care for vulnerable individuals in need of emergency repairs, after he witnessed a disabled and elderly man get cheated out of £5,500 (£7,400) for a repair job he didn't need, he told CNN.
In 2017, he founded the non-profit organization
DEPHER (Disabled and Elderly Plumbing and Heating Emergency Response) to provide free emergency repair services to disabled and elderly people in the community. Since its inception, the company has helped more than 10,279 families throughout the UK, according to Anderson.
"We basically deliver a lifeline to anybody who is elderly, disabled and vulnerable of any age," said Anderson.
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