Hugh Grant and his wife donate £10k to plumbing cause

The actor Hugh Grant and his wife Anna Eberstein have donated £10,000 to an organisation that provides free plumbing to vulnerable people.

James Anderson, who founded Depher, described the actor as a "foundation and rock" after he contributed £55,000 over the past year.

"But this time with it being from Anna as well, it feels more personal as it's from one family to others," the Burnley-based plumber said.

"It's been humbling and heavenly."

The couple made the donation on Saturday to a crowdfunder so the organisation can provide services across the UK amid rising energy costs.

Mr Anderson, who was born in Liverpool, set up Depher - Disability and Elderly Plumbing and Heating Emergency Repair - in 2017 after dealing with people in deprived circumstances suffering from poor heating and plumbing.

He earned worldwide attention after he refused to charge an elderly customer for work on her boiler.

As a community interest company (CIC), he said it relied on donations to provide free services during the winter.

He told BBC Breakfast earlier this week: "All the time, people are coming for food, gas, electric - the plumbing and heating obviously, because now it's getting colder.

"And we're getting a lot of people asking for other help - with building issues, debts, loan sharks."

Last year, Mr Anderson had said he feared he would have to shut down Depher because of a lack of funding caused by the pandemic and said he had not taken a salary since the start of the first lockdown.

Mr Anderson said tax cuts announced by Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday were "not relevant at all".

"There's going to be a lot of people left out in the cold and a lot of people are going to be left to die if the government don't do it correctly."

Mr Kwarteng said the top rate of income tax and planned rises in business taxes would be scrapped, but it drew criticism that they would benefit the richest.

On Sunday, the chancellor said there would be further tax cuts in the future so people can "retain more of their income".

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [email protected]