Kate Winslet opens up about donating £17,000 to Scots mum caring for disabled daughter

Kate Winslet has opened up about donating thousands of pounds to a Scots mum facing a huge energy bill while caring for her disabled child.

In November, the actress reached out to Carolynne Hunter from Tillicoultry after hearing of the mum’s struggles to afford the cost of powering her daughter Freya’s life support.

The 12-year-old has severe complex health problems and disabilities, is non-verbal and blind and requires full-time oxygen and at-home nursing care.

Amid the cost of living crisis, Ms Hunter was facing an annual energy bill of £10,000, but Clackmannanshire Council said it could hit £17,000 the following year.

After hearing of the mother-of-four’s plight, the actress reached out and donated £17,000 to help support the family.

When Ms Hunter heard the actress wanted to help, she told STV News she was “crying a lot”, adding: “I didn’t think life was real… I am still a bit shaky.”

Carolynne Hunter was struggling to afford energy bills as she cared for daughter Freya. STV News

The Titanic star opened up about her donation on BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.

She said she felt she had to do something when she heard Ms Hunter was “going to have to put her child into care because she could not afford her electricity bills” and it “absolutely destroyed” her.

“I thought, on what planet is anyone going to let that happen? This is completely, completely wrong,” she told the broadcaster.

“It was just wrong to me that this woman was going to suffer and that she should have been in any way as a mother forced to make such a heartbreaking decision because she simply didn’t have the support and couldn’t pay the bills.

“I just couldn’t let that happen.”