HOUSEHOLDS should be aware of these exact dates to help figure out how much money they will get to help with energy bills this winter.

The Winter Fuel Payment is a state benefit paid once a year to pensioners to help cover the cost of heating during colder months.

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The government handout was previously available to everyone aged above 66 and helped with pricey energy costs.

However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves revealed earlier this year the cash would only be given to retirees on pension credit, or other means-tested benefits.

Those who qualify will receive a payment of either £200 or £300.

It is worth noting the amount you receive depends on the year you were born.

For example, if you live alone you will get £200 if you were born between September 23 1944 and September 22 1958.

But you will get £300 if you were born before 23 September 1944.

If you and your partner jointly claim any of the benefits, one of you will get a payment of either:

• £200 if one or both of you were born between September 23 1944 and September 22 1958
• £300 if one or both of you were born before September 23 1944

For those who live with a partner or spouse of pension age, the individual amount is split between you.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said pensioners will get a letter in either October or November to inform them of how much Winter Fuel Payment they will get.

Who is eligible for the Winter Fuel Payment

You will receive the Winter Fuel Payment if you are aged 66 or above and on any of the following benefits.

• Pension Credit
• Universal Credit
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Income Support
• Child Tax Credit
• Working Tax Credit

It is worth noting that around 800,000 older ­people risk missing out on the £300 Winter Fuel Payment because they have not first registered for Pension Credit.

The benefit is a weekly payment from the government to those over the state pension age who have an income below a certain level.

If your claim is successful then the benefit will top up your income to £218.15 a week if you are single, or £11,343.80 a year.

It will also give you access to the Winter Fuel Payment.

What is the Winter Fuel Payment?

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Consumer reporter Sam Walker explains all you need to know about the payment.

The Winter Fuel Payment is an annual tax-free benefit designed to help cover the cost of heating through the colder months.

Most who are eligible receive the payment automatically.

Those who qualify are usually told via a letter sent in October or November each year.

If you do meet the criteria but don’t automatically get the Winter Fuel Payment, you will have to apply on the government’s website.

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You’ll qualify for a Winter Fuel Payment this winter if:

• you were born on or before September 23, 1958
• you lived in the UK for at least one day during the week of September 16 to 22, 2024, known as the “qualifying week”
• you receive Pension Credit, Universal Credit, ESA, JSA, Income Support, Child Tax Credit or Working Tax Credit

If you did not live in the UK during the qualifying week, you might still get the payment if both the following apply:

• you live in Switzerland or a EEA country
• you have a “genuine and sufficient” link with the UK social security system, such as having lived or worked in the UK and having a family in the UK

But there are exclusions – you can’t get the payment if you live in Cyprus, France, Gibraltar, Greece, Malta, Portugal or Spain.

This is because the average winter temperature is higher than the warmest region of the UK.

You will also not qualify if you:

• are in hospital getting free treatment for more than a year
• need permission to enter the UK and your granted leave states that you can not claim public funds
• were in prison for the whole “qualifying week”
• lived in a care home for the whole time between 26 June to 24 September 2023, and got Pension Credit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance or income-related Employment and Support Allowance

Payments are usually made between November and December, with some made up until the end of January the following year.

You will need to have been claiming Pension Credit in the ‘qualifying week’ of September 16 to 22, 2024.

But claims can be backdated by three months meaning you have until December 21 to make a claim and still get the Winter Fuel Payment.

If you want to check your eligibility then it is worth checking out our article here.

You can also find free-to-use online benefits calculators to work out what you’re entitled to.

For example, Age UK has an online calculator which helps you work out what benefits you could be entitled to including the Winter Fuel Payment and Pension Credit.

According to the site it takes 10 minutes to complete and you will need the following information:

• Your savings
• Your income, including your partner’s if you have one
• Any benefits or pensions you’re already claiming, including anyone you’re living with.

The calculator is free to use and confidential.

Help at hand

The Sun has launched a ­Winter Fuel SOS campaign to help thousands of pensioners worried about their energy bills.

We want to hear from you by phone or email — and it’s fine if you are calling or messaging on behalf of a friend or relative.

Our panel includes former ­pensions minister Sir Steve Webb, pensions expert Baroness Ros ­Altmann and consumer champion Martyn James.

They will be joined by The Sun’s Head of Consumer Tara Evans and Sun Savers Editor Lana ­Clements.

And even if you aren’t eligible for the payment, our team will be ­sharing tips on how to switch energy providers and save money, get help if you’re in debt or simply need to save this winter.

Your cases will be considered by our panel, who will aim to give you advice within one week of your call or email.

Caroline Abrahams, of the charity Age UK, said: “People often think if you have some savings or a small ­pension there’s no point applying for Pension Credit, but that’s often not the case.

“Don’t be put off by the forms — Age UK can help.”

WHEN Dean Allsop had a row with his neighbour over his bins, it sparked a feud between the pair – but fiancee Louise Newell never dreamed it would end in murder.

The couple reported Jamie Crosbie, their neighbour in Norwich, to the police after he began hurling weapons at them during the minor dispute, in 2018.

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But two years later mum-of-three Louise, then 43, watched in horror as the vile monster, 50, stabbed 40-year-old Dean Allsop 17 times in front of his teenage son before launching an attack on her.

Miraculously, she survived the slash wounds to her forehead, neck and chest, although she sadly lost Dean.

Blood-soaked Crosbie was arrested and received a life sentence in court in 2022, where a judge branded him “a very dangerous man”.

Bravely speaking exclusively to The Sun about her terrifying ordeal, Louise says: “Our neighbour held a grudge against Dean for two years, then took his revenge. He was evil.

“He robbed my children of their father for nothing. Although Dean is gone now, I’ll never stop loving him.”

Louise and Dean, a groundworker, met as teenagers and were each other’s first loves. Over the years, they got engaged and had three children, Millie, 22, Mikey, 20, and Jacob, eight.

Louise, a baker, says: “For over 25 years, Dean was my world. He was a brilliant dad too.

“We initially lived in London but we decided to take our family to the coast, in Norfolk, where it was safer for the kids to grow up.

“We found a nice three-bedroom house on a quiet crescent in 2011. The neighbours were lovely.

“Every day, Dean played outside with the kids. On the weekends, he took them fishing. He was their best friend.

“His main passion was motocross. Since Mikey was a baby Dean taught him how to ride. It was their special bond.”

Years later, in 2016, the family got a new neighbour, Crosbie.

Unlike their other neighbours in the quiet crescent in Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, Crosbie never smiled or said ‘hello’, and kept to himself.

Two years later in 2018, Louise was rocking their youngest to sleep when her daughter ran into the bedroom, screaming that the neighbour was trying to attack their dad.

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Louise says: “I rushed to the window and saw Jamie, on the road, throwing knives at Dean.

“I was horrified. I couldn’t believe it. He was yelling at Dean for touching his bin.

“Dean luckily locked himself into the garden and shouted for me to call the police. I dialled 999 and Jamie spotted me holding the baby in the window.

“He threw a hammer directly at us. But it missed and hit next door’s window.

“I screamed out, in shock. Minutes later, the police came and arrested Jamie.

Jamie was stood in his front garden, covered in blood, clutching a giant knife. He stared at me in silence

Louise Newell

“No-one was hurt but my family and all the neighbours were really shaken up.”

In October 2018, Crosbie pleaded guilty to carrying offensive weapons and criminal damage at Norwich Crown Court. 

He received a fine and was ordered to do community service.

Terrifying attack

After he returned to the street, Louise was terrified and avoided taking the kids out for a while.

She says: “The police told us Jamie would never come near us again. Dean kept telling me we needed to move on and live in peace.

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“He even said if he did see him, he’d shake his hand and forgive him.

“Thankfully we never saw Jamie after that. He stayed out of our way as he was on probation.

“Due to the Covid lockdowns in the years after, we barely left the house anyway.”

In April 2021, Dean was outside the house helping their son Mikey, then 17, ride his motorbike.

Crosbie heard the engine revving and came outside, screaming at Dean for making noise.

I was pleading with him to stop while dodging the knife but I wasn’t quick enough

Louise

Crosbie then stormed into his home and returned, clutching a large kitchen knife.

Louise was inside, giving their youngest a bath while their daughter was at a friend’s house.

Louise says: “Mikey ran inside screaming Dad was dead. In shock, I didn’t understand.

“I thought for a moment Dean might have been run over or crashed the bike.

“I rushed out and saw Dean on the road, in a pool of blood.

“Jamie was stood in his front garden, covered in blood, clutching a giant knife. He stared at me in silence.

“I froze and shouted for Mikey to lock the doors and stay inside with Jacob. Then I rang 999, whilst rushing over to Dean.

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“He’d been stabbed all over. I couldn’t stop screaming.

“Dean’s eyes were closed but he squeezed my hand. I was hysterical.

“The operator was telling me to stay calm but I looked up and saw Jamie marching towards Dean again.”

Howling, Louise stood back as Crosbie viciously stabbed Dean again, this time in the neck twice.

He’d stabbed the dad-of-three a total of 17 times.

As Dean lay dying, the cold-blooded murderer launched himself at Louise.

That monster took my children’s father for nothing

Louise

She says: “I was pleading with him to stop while dodging the knife. But I wasn’t quick enough and he slashed my forehead.

“He then stabbed me in the neck twice, and once in my chest. In agony, I nearly collapsed. But I told myself if I did, my kids would have no mum left.

“With all my might, I continued fighting him off and he stabbed my hand.

“Suddenly my neighbour appeared and told Jamie to leave me alone, distracting him.”

Crosbie turned to Louise’s neighbour, and began stabbing her in the neck too.

Blinded by blood in her eyes, Louise struggled to see but when she finally did, she saw Jamie had fled back inside his home.

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Chilling taunt

Horrified neighbours leaned over their fences, and waved Louise over. She managed to escape into someone’s house.

Louise says: “Moments later, I heard helicopters and I knew Dean would be okay. I knew they’d save him.”

A team of officers captured Crosbie, covered in blood, outside his house.

In a chilling remark, as the handcuffs locked, he told police: “Killing people isn’t always a bad thing.”

Meanwhile, Louise was rushed to Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital.

Louise says: “I kept watching the door, waiting for Dean to be brought in too.

“Instead, a policeman appeared and told me that Dean had passed away.

“My entire world collapsed. I was sobbing as I was rushed into emergency theatre.”

Heartbreaking loss

Heartbroken Louise woke up from surgery and learned her forehead had flapped open from where Jamie had slashed her.

Surgeons stitched it back on like a face-lift while also repairing the nerves in her neck that had been cut.

Her neighbour, who came to her rescue, also had surgery on her neck after being stabbed and she survived.

Louise says: “I didn’t care about anything but my Dean. I was 40 and Dean was all I’d ever known since I was a teenage girl.

“I couldn’t accept that he was gone. After going back home, the kids were beside themselves.

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“That monster took my children’s father for nothing.”

In August 2022, Jamie Crosbie, 50, of Primrose Crescent, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich, was found guilty of one count of murder against Dean at Norwich Crown Court.

He was also found guilty of two counts of wounding with intent against Louise and her neighbour.

He was jailed for life and must serve a minimum of 28 years.

Louise says: “I was relieved he couldn’t hurt anyone else. But no time would ever make up for taking Dean away from us.

“Jamie held a grudge after his first arrest and took revenge.

“Now, the children and I have moved house and have started fresh. But we mourn Dean every day.

“He was the funniest, cheekiest man you’d ever meet.”

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When curator Pablo José Ramírez was asked to take charge of a section at the Frieze London art fair dedicated each year to special presentations, he wanted to shine a light on Indigenous and diaspora artists from the Americas, while acknowledging the unfixed and ambiguous identities these artists often inhabit. He titled it Smoke, inspired by “El Animal de Humo” (“The Smoke Animal”), a short story by Humberto Ak’abal, a Kʼicheʼ Maya poet from Guatemala, which describes a phantasmagoric creature that lives in the forest, part bogeyman, part guardian of the trees.

In Smoke, 11 artists, some of whom have Indigenous American heritage and others of whom are of mestizo (mixed) ancestry, show work in a variety of media, but predominantly clay. In Ramírez’s project, smoke is a metaphor, but it is also a byproduct of the fire needed to turn soft clay into hard ceramic.

“It’s not a section about Indigenous ceramics or Indigenous artists,” cautions Ramírez. The Guatemala-born curator, who was the inaugural adjunct curator of First Nations and Indigenous art at Tate Modern in London, before relocating to take up a curatorial role at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, refuses to let his work be pigeonholed. The artists he has chosen “move between worlds”, he says, between local traditions and the globalised contemporary art sphere. He aspires for the project to be inclusive, acknowledging how emigration disperses cultural knowledge across diasporas.

Indigenous Mexican artist Noé Martínez says that his sculptural ceramics are a means of communicating with his ancestors, the Huastec people. “They are containers to store the souls of my ancestors, slaves who were extracted in the 16th century,” he says. “The dead never leave, they are always in our daily lives.” As with many Indigenous communities, many of the Huastec people are now in diaspora. While his grandmothers worked with clay, their knowledge has been lost. “I use different materials than my ancestors, but I use them with the same thinking about the world that they had.”

The backgrounds of artists in Smoke are diverse. Christine Howard Sandoval was born in California and is an enrolled member of the Chalon Nation but now lives in Canada. Mexican-American Linda Vallejo, who was born in LA but moved around Europe as a child, was later invited to participate in Native American ceremonies through her involvement with traditional Mexican dance. (Both artists are represented at Frieze by Parrasch Heijnen.)

Vallejo’s sculptures at Frieze, made from found hunks of wood, paper pulp and other media, include no clay but — through their colours and materiality — allude to fire. As she explains, according to many Indigenous beliefs, “the fire lives within the wood”. Sandoval’s more conceptual works explore an Indigenous relationship to the land: a single Ohlone word (the traditional language of the Chalon people) is embossed on white paper, accompanied by a thick daub of adobe mud.

Not all the artists in Smoke claim Indigenous heritage, however. LA-based Roksana Pirouzmand was born in Iran. On the clay tablets she will present in Smoke, she paints bodies melding with mountainous landscapes, emphasising through her choice of medium the physical connection between a person and the land that claims them. Clay, for Pirouzmand, is a participant in her work: “I see the slow erosion that can occur between unfired clay and water as a performance of material,” she says.

Active, too, are works by the Brazilian artist Ayla Tavares. She places ceramic “totems”, as she calls them, in tanks filled with water. Tavares does not draw specifically on ceramic craft traditions, but instead references natural forms such as corals and anemones, fossils or slow-moving tectonic plates.

What binds this disparate group of artists is an understanding of land not in the nationalist sense but as terrain, as earth. (The soil on either side of any geopolitical border is, after all, the same.) For Ramírez this is a way of displaying work from distinct places, generations and traditions “with a certain degree of horizontality”, as he puts it. He sees a shift in the way that museums are framing craft-based, Indigenous and non-western artistic practices: “Institutions are finally trying to come to terms with the fact that art history doesn’t belong exclusively to the western world.” 

His approach, as he demonstrates in Smoke, is to highlight connections while still acknowledging specificity, to question simplified models of identity and foster a climate of respect for difference.

Frieze London runs October 9-13, frieze.com

CRESTVIEW — Okaloosa County Public Works Director Jason Autrey believes that the first step in building a new pedestrian bridge on the Florida Trail has been taken.

On Tuesday, the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a task order with Mott MacDonald to develop a $244,867.04 bridge design report for the Yellow River Pedestrian Bridge, which will help close a 5-mile gap along the Florida National Scenic Trail.

The planned bridge was first discussed at the end of a Nov. 7 board meeting, when Commissioner Nathan Boyles noted that during a recent hike along the trail he became aware of the gap between the trail’s western boundary near Yellow River Log Lake Road and continues at the eastern boundary along the Yellow River near Wilkinson Bluff.

To combat the gap, hikers must take a 20-mile detour that takes pedestrians along Highway 90 and State Road 85, increasing safety concerns for hikers and motorists alike.

According to Autrey, the new report will identify the specific location of the new bridge by using site conditions to determine what type of bridge will be built and how best to build it in a remote area.

According to county documents, once a notice to proceed is issued for the project, county staff expect to have the full report within five months. The entire project is funded through tourism development dollars.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Okaloosa County plans pedestrian bridge to close Florida Trail gap

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Expectation management?

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Tax incentives

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A PUB is selling pints for as little as £2.60 – but punters have to stick to a strict set of rules or face being kicked out.

The Abbey, located in Derbyshire near the banks of the River Derwent, re-opened last week after a five-year hiatus.

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Sessions at the boozer are focused on enjoying a cheap drink and, according to landlady Fiona Ashley, “the old fashioned art of conversation”.

Fiona and her husband Nathan have bold reminders pinned to the walls and even on beer mats that state: “We are a digital detox pub.”

Other signs at the hostelry in historic Darley Abbey, on the outskirts of Derby, warn: “Use of mobiles, laptops and other digital devices are not allowed.”

Other notices include “No swearing – zero tolerance”, and “Beer and conversation encouraged”.

When The Sun visited the pub – which is set in a former monastery’s sleeping quarters – not one person was seen daring to break the rules.

Food is yet to be introduced, but the busy lunchtime crowd seemed content simply having a drink and chatting, with many even making new friends.

Customers all raised a glass to the ban on phones.

Other bans include no TV, no dogs, no taking photos inside – and children are only allowed in if they are having a meal with adults.

When our reporter asked Fiona and Nathan – affectionately knowns as Fee and Nath – to pose at the bar pulling a pint, they looked horrified, and replied in unison: “No!”

The mum-of-four explained: “There’s no photos allowed inside… You can’t even take a sneaky picture.”

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Fiona added: “It’s a strict pub, probably the strictest in the country but it makes it more pleasant!”

For those people too shy to talk there’s a range of popular board games to play, plus darts.

The pub boasts a cosy downstairs bar with a roaring fire and a huge bar upstairs with a dining area set off by exposed 15th century brickwork.

Teaching assistant Zoe Heslop from Belper, Derbyshire, said: “This is an iconic pub and we’re pleased it’s finally re-opened after being closed for five years.

“But I’m not sure I like being told what to do, and not to use my phone, but those are the rules so I’ll go with the flow.

“It makes you realise how much you rely on your mobile so it’s good to put it away.

“It’s nice not to hear the ring, ring or ping, ping of texts. It’s very refreshing.”

Zoe, 50, was sipping a lemonade while her boyfriend Seton Watson went to the upper bar to get a pint of Alpine lager – for a bargain £2.60.

She said: “My automatic reaction was to get my phone out but I can’t!”

Instead she got chatting to stranger Tommy Dowd, a double glazing company boss, who had popped in for a pint.

IT consultant Seton, 53, agreed the phone ban was “a good idea,” saying: “We all use our mobiles too much.

“We were aware of the ban when we came in but didn’t know how seriously they took it.

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“Anyone caught using a mobile will be thrown out. Those are the rules so it’s fair enough.”

Local Tommy, 39, a former regular at the refurbished pub before a chimney fire closed it down, recalled: “In the good old days you could use your phone and bring your dog in but not any more.

“I get the no phones, and I’ve put mine on silent, but it’s a shame you cant bring dogs into the bar downstairs because it’s such a lovely area for dog walking and I reckon they’ll lose a lot of customers.”

He added: “The beer’s pretty cheap, not as cheap as Wetherspoon, but the building is impressive and full of character.”

Kevin Eley, an electronics engineer from Burton upon Trent, was enjoying a pint with his dad Paul Eley, a retired consultant engineer, and his father-in-law Ian Holden-Smith, a retired brewery manager.

Kevin said: “I agree with the ban on mobiles. People should be talking to each other, not into their phones.”

His dad chipped in: “It’s a brilliant idea. I’ve been coming to this pub for years before it closed, it’s a great place and the ban won’t put people off, as long as they’d swear about it!”

Ian added: “It’s the first time I’ve heard of a phone ban in a pub so people better get used to it.

“The beer prices are very fair here, much cheaper then when we were in Devon the other week where is was £6.30 a pint.”

Lizzie Mazza, a learning co-ordinator, was having a drink with her mum.

She said: “Having no phone is so good and refreshing.

“People should be making conversation. You come to a pub to chat not call up your mates.”

Former beauty therapist Lizzie, 34, added: “I’m in two minds about the dog ban but all for the no phones and no swearing.

“It’s a lovely old pub with a lot of charm and heritage and the brewery boss sets the rules. Yes, they’re strict and he may be a bit of a control freak but he’s doing a good job.”

Fiona and Nathan, who are both trained chefs and looking forward to introducing meals this month, refer to themselves as “caretakers” of the pub not managers.

Fiona, a gran, said: “We are taking care of the pub. It’s such a warm and cosy place and we live right next door.”

The former chef added: “It was always Nigel’s dream to run a pub and I’m supporting his dream.

“He saw an advert and we had a an interview with the main man, Sam Smith. We must have impressed him because we got the job.

“We love the fact there is a ban on anything digital and so do most of our customers. If we see people breaking the rules and on their phones we’ll politely show them to the door.

“Now people sitting around a table talk to each other and tables talk.

“It is wonderful to hear conversation and not someone shouiting down their phone or looking at social media.

“The other night a father and son came in, they sat down with a pint and played a game of Scrabble. A lady comes in on her own and she sits by the window reading a book.

“The best thing is hearing the old fashioned art of conversation!”

Nathan, who admitted he has to switch his phone off and hide it away to stop him from mistakenly using it, said: “Banning phones encourages customers to have a conversation.

“It’s an old fashioned place and you come in and find yourself in a different world away from digital.”

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The Abbey is owned by millionaire chairman Sam Smith, 79, from Tadcaster in North Yorkshire.

He is renowned for imposing his unique rules on his premises.

Local councillor Martin Repton, who had been campaigning for the pub’s reopening, wrote: “Many hundreds of people are talking about their excitement.

“It’s an integral part of our community. It is of immense national importance, and I am just excited to hear it is back.

“I met with the new managers and I am sure they will do an amazing job.”

Fiona pointed out that when it re-opened, the original pub sign – which had been swiped by a group of locals dressed as monks – was mysteriously returned.

She said: “It’s the same old sign with one side still authentic, the other side restored.

“That’s worth a picture on your phone and it’s allowed because it’s outside!”