But he says that Depher has been struggling to meet the surge in demand for help with food and energy costs as the cost of living crisis bites, and that it can’t keep operating its full services due to a lack of funds.

James said in a statement: “DEPHER will unfortunately have to postpone all requests for help with food, gas, and electricity.

"Due to a massive increase in demand, we are running out of funds very quickly every week. We will restart the initiative as soon as we find more support.”

James is committed to getting the services, which are funded by donations from the public, up and running again as soon as more funds can be found to cover costs.

James started Depher as a free heating and plumbing services in 2017, with the venture growing to meet people’s needs through other services over time.

During the pandemic years, through Depher James set up a food bank as well as supplying PPE to the NHS and care homes.

Over its six years, Depher has helped over 500,000 people, and with staff currently receiving roughly 400 emails a day from people in need, they hope to help many more still in the future.

But right now, a lack of funding is holding the company back when it comes to providing assistance with costs of food, electricity and gas, as James needs to keep the free boiler scheme running too.

He explained that: "We need to balance the outgoings for people who need our plumbing, heating boilers, and funeral support.

"We cannot use everything on just food, gas, and electricity. We have a responsibility to a wide range of people around the UK. We will work hard to reinstall the initiative."

James is looking for more support and is determined to get Depher’s food, gas and electricity support back on its feet very soon.

To donate to Depher you can visit their website - www.depher.com