Get your free thermometer card

Wales's over 60s can get a free thermometer from their local Age Cymru to help them keep warm this winter.

We've produced the bilingual thermometer cards as part of our annual Keep Well this Winter campaign.

Our Keep Well this Winter Co-ordinator Rhian Pearce says:

"Older people need to keep their homes warm during the winter months because the cold can have a detrimental effect on their health.

"Exposure to cold temperatures can lead to older people suffering from hypothermia and increase the risk of a stroke, heart attack or respiratory illnesses.

"This is why it is so important that older people are able to heat their homes between the safe range of 65 and 70 degrees Farenheit, which is 18 to 21 degrees Celsius.

"Age Cymru has produced these thermometer cards to help older people keep their homes at the right temperature this winter."

Age Cymru runs the Keep Well this Winter campaign on behalf of the Welsh Government.

The thermometer card will help tell older people if the room they are in is too cold - this may put them at risk of hypothermia.

It can also tell older people if the room they are in is too hot, in case they overheat, which could also lead to unmanageable fuel bills.

The back of the bilingual thermometer card contains handy tips from Wales & West Utilities for older people about protecting themselves from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Wales & West Utilities' Corporate Affairs Manager, Jaime Falarczyk says:

"Carbon monoxide poisoning kills 50 people a year in the UK.

"It is a poisonous gas produced by burning any fossil fuel such as coal, wood, oil or natural gas without adequate ventilation.

"Carbon monoxide has no smell, taste or colour, and it can kill without warning in a matter of minutes.

"Older people and the young are particularly at risk from it.

"Wales & West Utilities is glad to be working nationally with Age Cymru to help keep older people safe by keeping them aware of  the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning and how to protect themselves from the so-called ‘silent killer'."

The thermometers are available from:

• Age Cymru Bangor, 299 High Street, Bangor;
• Age Cymru Caerphilly, 69 - 71 Cardiff Road, Caerphilly;
• Age Cymru Ebbw Vale, Unit 2B, The Walk, Ebbw Vale;
• Age Cymru Mold, 28 High Street, Mold;
• Age Cymru Monmouth, Unit 4, Oldway Centre, Monmouth;
• Age Cymru Porthcawl, 37 John Street, Porthcawl;
• Age Cymru Rhyl, 77 High Street,  Rhyl;
• Age Cymru Shotton, 63 Chester Road West, Shotton, Deeside;
• Age Cymru Wrexham, 5a Trinity Street, Wrexham;
• Age Cymru Enterprises Ltd Cardiff, 58 Merthyr Road, Whitchurch;
• Age Cymru Enterprises Ltd Pontypridd, 25 Taff Street (opposite Iceland), Pontypridd;
• Age Cymru, Tŷ John Pathy, 13/14 Neptune Court, Vanguard Way, Cardiff;
• Age Cymru Gwynedd a Môn, Tŷ Seiont, Ffordd Santes Helen, Caernarfon;
• Age Cymru Gwent, 12 Baneswell Road, Newport;
• Age Cymru Swansea Bay, Sun Alliance House, 166 /167 St Helen's Road, Swansea;
• Age Cymru Afan Nedd, Day centre, Riverside Walk, Port Talbot;
• Age Cymru Sir Gâr, 8 Murray Street, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire;
• Age Cymru Ceredigion (Aberystwyth office), 1A The Old Welsh School, Alexandra Road, Aberystwyth;
• Age Cymru Ceredigion (Cardigan office), 38 Pendre, Cardigan;
• Age Concern Powys (Builth Wells office), Crown Building, 11b Broad Street, Builth Wells, Powys;
• Age Concern Powys (Newtown office), 11&12 Market Street, Newtown, Powys;

Stocks are limited so make sure you get one before they run out.

Age Cymru is also running its Spread the Warmth campaign to prevent older people in Wales suffering needlessly this winter.