“We are in danger of losing people to the effects of poverty.”

That’s the stark message from the leader of a charitable organisation fearful for people struggling to survive the winter.

Dawn Shepherd, of Dartmouth Community Chest, described the situation in the town at the moment as “truly awful”.

She added: “If we were not here, we would be losing people.”

Dawn said people across Dartmouth were struggling with the effects of universal credit, resulting in charity volunteers experiencing their busiest month so far.

The volunteers are putting a plaster over the town, she explained, working seven days a week to help people keep their homes warm, stay healthy and put food on the table.

Dartmouth Community Chest helps to support people struggling in the town and surrounding area through a fuel poverty campaign, collecting food, signposting people to the help they need and collecting and redistributing furniture to low-income families and people in crisis.

Dawn told the Chronicle about many people in Dartmouth having to wait a long time for Universal Credit payments which resulted in them struggling to pay bills.

She said the group was at “crisis point” and the situation was the worst she had ever seen. The organisation is giving out around £200 a week for its fuel poverty campaign which it runs to help keep people warm, which is hard to sustain.

During January, volunteers have been out seven nights a week delivering food and support to prevent fuel poverty.

Dawn said the staff at M&S had been “angels”, handing out food to the volunteers every night to help feed people struggling in the town.

She added that more people were getting poorly this year, and people suffering with colds and mild allergies were struggling to overcome their illnesses because their homes are not warm enough and they couldn’t afford to buy larger quantities of healthy food.

People are living off donated food and cooking meals which are quick to cook to save energy bills, which isn’t helping to prevent secondary infections, explained Dawn.

Instead, with a lack of resources, some of these people have contracted higher risk illnesses such as pneumonia or bronchitis. Every week the charity was seeing adults and children who were not getting better.

She said: “I am worried about people surviving and people losing their health to poverty. We can’t stand by and watch our neighbours suffer like this.”

The charitable organisation was working hard to support people, but Dawn said she didn’t know how long it would be able to go on for.

“I am living in fear of not being able to do this” said Dawn.

It needs more money and support from volunteers in the town-whether it is a donation to help the fuel poverty campaign or help collecting food from the supermarkets.

Some volunteers were currently pulling 14-hour days, as many of them work full time as well as volunteering.

Dawn emphasised that many of the people the charitable organisation supports are working people, either struggling to get hours in the seasonal industries in Dartmouth or just struggling to make ends meet each month.

The community chest has given out more than £2,000 this winter to help the people of Dartmouth and surrounding areas.

Every Friday at Townstal Community Hall, volunteers are setting up a weekly service with a laptop and phone to help people to set up universal credit and to help people having problems with the new benefit system.

Dartmouth Community Chest also works hard to ensure families and individuals are able to keep their pets while they are struggling. They help look after and feed them until the families are back to normal.

Gerrie Messer, the Totnes constituency parliamentary Labour candidate for 2017 said: “Universal Credit is just the latest in the Government’s cruel reforms or hurdles for the sick, disabled, low and non skilled workers to prevent them from receiving help from the "state system" which has been available since 1966.

“Claimants face, at least, an initial qualifying wait of five weeks before any payments will be made. This will be the minimum wait.

“At the start of a Universal Credit claim, ESA/JSA and Housing Benefit stop. Housing benefit is already paid in arrears - which is why most private landlords refuse tenants who rely on the assistance available to them.

“So potentially, a Universal Credit claim - started a week before Housing Benefit is due to be paid - could result in a minimum seven weeks before a claim is paid.

“Are Social landlords prepared for this? Are tenants prepared for this? Quite often the answer is no.

“Although claimants can request a loan, the official posters in the Jobcentre advise claimants against requesting too much as it likely to be difficult to repay the loan. What exactly is too much?

“Should claimants borrow their housing allowance - but not enough to pay for utilities, food, clothes, general every day expenses?”

She added: “The need for assistance from Food Banks has dramatically increased since the implementation of Universal Credit.

“The use of ‘loan sharks’ has also dramatically increased. A huge chunk of society are being punished, by the Government, for being sick, disabled or unable to find secure, viable work.

“There is not enough dedicated help for vulnerable people who do not have the capacity to complete 20 - 50 page forms.

“Through my volunteering at the Kingsbridge Food Bank  - I have helped complete 26 such forms. I am still waiting for four tribunals to make it to court - some 50 plus weeks later. “Vulnerable people who have all come close to giving up - but have continued their fight with my help.

“Sadly this nauseous Government will continue to penalise the most vulnerable. None of the current procedures or processes  will change until there is a complete overhaul of the Department of Work and Pensions or there is a change of Government

Janie Moor, chief executive of Citizens Advice South Hams said: “January is one of the busiest months of the year for clients seeking help with debts.

“However this year we’ve already seen a 30 per cent increase in debt related issues, mainly caused by problems with universal credit and clients struggling to afford domestic fuel bills.

“We have a dedicated drop-in session in the Mayors Avenue Clinic every Tuesday morning from 9.30am to 12.30pm and would urge anyone in Dartmouth who is worried about debt, fuel related or otherwise, to go along.”

Fr Will Hazlewood, the vicar of the United Benefice of Dartmouth and Dittisham, has also expressed his concern about the problems facing people in the town who are reliant on universal credit.

He said in response to the crisis highlighted by Dartmouth Community Chest: “I haven’t really noticed a huge recent increase in poverty in the town, but I am very aware and concerned about the continuing problems facing those who rely on universal credit.

“The delays in payments in particular are deeply disturbing. They don’t seem to suit the seasonal variations in wages encountered by so many who work in tourism related industries.

“One of the reasons for St Clements being open for a hot lunch on Thursdays is to seek to be there with practical help for those in need.”