“They just can’t afford it.”
Sunnex said she had noticed children at the Koha Shed during school time who “don’t have what they need to get to school that day”.
People on pensions who had been visiting on off-pension weeks for food support were now there “every day for a bag of food”.
“They’re just getting further and further below the poverty line. It’s really quite difficult to see.”
The mental and emotional toll on people had been immense, she said.
“People are really depressed.
“You’ve got people that are talking about giving up on life. What’s the point? I’m 70 now. I’m going to die anyway. This is too much of a struggle. I’ve worked all my life.
“All of that is happening in our community.”
The Koha Shed was struggling to meet Whanganui’s food support demand, she said.
Whanganui People’s Advocacy Centre manager Sharon Semple said the cost of living was driving more people into its office than in previous winters.
“It’s not just the cold, it’s the price of everything.”
Rising energy bills, food costs and petrol prices were forcing people to decide what to prioritise.
“Everybody’s vulnerable.”
The People’s Advocacy Centre helps people navigate government agencies, such as Work and Income NZ, to access the right support.
Overwhelming workloads had become the “norm” as more people sought the centre’s help each year, Semple said.
“We don’t get morning tea breaks, lunch breaks. We work late most evenings to keep on top of the workload.”
Staff are managing 40 to 50 cases each this winter.
Work and Income offers weekly Winter Energy Payments from May to October to eligible low-income households.
Single people without dependent children can receive $20.46 a week, while couples and those with dependent children get $31.82 a week.
Semple said Work and Income’s acknowledgment of the situation was positive, but the payment amounts did not reflect the actual cost of power.
The payments have not changed since they were introduced in 2018, while wholesale electricity prices more than doubled from mid-2017 to 2025, according to figures produced by consultancy Sense Partners for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. They have risen again this year, according to the New Zealand Electricity Authority.
Age Concern Whanganui manager Michelle Malcolm said that, for many people on pensions facing “horrendous” power bills, the payments were far from enough to cover food, heating and other living costs.
“If the Government wanted to do something, they could increase the Winter Energy Payment.
“When people get older, there seems to be limited support.”
Cold, damp homes can increase respiratory problems, infections and other illnesses, especially among vulnerable groups such as older people, according to Age Concern New Zealand.
Malcolm discovered that her mother turned on the heating only before family visited, but not for herself.
“When her house is cold, then she’s cold, so when she gets up, her mobility’s impacted [leading to higher fall risk].”
The “relatively mild weather” so far this winter had given some relief and hopefully would stay warmer, Malcolm said.
“There’s not been those bitterly cold days yet.”
Sunnex said awareness of the situation was vital to improving it.
“The more awareness there is, the more we can support each other as a community.
“It doesn’t matter where that support goes to, as long as at the end it gets to the people that really need it.”
Erin Smith is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.