Icelanders donate 3,000 woolens to UK pensioners dying from the cold

Icelanders have put aside their financial problems to send woolly jumpers to the UK after a radio interview warned one in 12 British pensioners could die this winter because of the cold.

Mr Karlsson said: “When we broadcast the story that UK pensioners were dying from the cold, our listeners could not believe their own ears.

“I am sure I speak on behalf of every living soul in Iceland when I say that we looked at it with an utter dismay and total disbelief.”

Neil Duncan-Jordan, spokesman for the NPC, said: “This is a fantastic and generous act of compassion from the people of Iceland, particularly at a time when their own economic situation is extremely difficult.”

Iceland Appeal Brings Jumper Aid to UKA large container filled with warm clothing has arrived in Hull (UK) after an Icelandic appeal to help pensioners who cannot afford to pay their fuel bills.

Listeners to the Bylgjan radio station donated hundreds of garments made from unique Icelandic wool.

Age Concern said many pensioners in Hull were in “financial deprivation”.

Icelandic broadcaster Heimir Karlsson, who helped organise the Icelandic Wool to England appeal, said: “When we broadcast the story that UK pensioners were dying from the cold, our listeners could not believe their own ears”.

“We decided to give the Icelandic nation four days to fill a 20ft container of pure Icelandic wool for pensioners in Britain.

“Families, some from far away, came one after another with garments to fill the container.”

Neil Duncan-Jordan, of the National Pensioners Convention, said “This is a fantastic and generous act of compassion from the people of Iceland, particularly at a time when their own economic situation is extremely difficult.

“But it is also a shocking indictment of the UK Government’s complete inability to tackle properly the problem of winter deaths amongst older people.”

Sally Gould, from Age Concern, said: “There are approximately 40,000 older people in Hull who receive a state pensioner and roughly 30% of those people are in some from of financial deprivation.”

UK looks like ‘Iceland-on-Thames’

Such  a remarkable country must be saved from the economic devastation that is circling the globe.  Humanitarian headlines amid today’s depressing news is a gleam of hope.  Maybe we can learn from what we are witnessing.  Maybe countries can take their eyes off their lost prizes long enough to recognize that watching their sinking ship from the crows nest does not keep it afloat.  Sharing what you have with those without, is an ancient solution for survival.  The opposite method, waging conflict to reduce competing populations, cheats humanity.   In this inhuman era, what Icelanders have done for aging britons is a heartwarming  reminder that we are human, after all.