A plumber is receiving widespread recognition for his admirable mission of aiding the elderly and vulnerable by repairing their plumbing systems without any cost.

Although anyone in a community could benefit from assistance from their neighbors and friends, it's common knowledge that the elderly and disabled individuals are typically the ones who require it the most.

Oftentimes, these individuals refrain from seeking help due to their fear of being perceived as a burden.

Source: PA Wire

A plumber in the British town of Burnley named James Anderson knows this all too well. That’s because he recently fixed an elderly woman’s broken boiler without making her pay a single penny.

His kind act is being lauded online after his bill of £0 sent to the 91-year-old woman with leukemia was shared on Facebook by the woman’s daughter, Christine Rowlands.

The bill came with a message saying: “No charge for this lady under any circumstances. We will be available 24 hours to help her and keep her as comfortable a possible.”

James, who is originally from Liverpool, insists that the customer will have “free plumbing for life.”

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As it turns out, the plumber isn’t new to doing acts of kindness such as this. Ever since he transformed his plumbing business into a community for vulnerable people, he says that he has assisted thousands of individuals – 2,389 people since March 2017, to be exact.

The inspiration for starting his company, DEPHER, came after a customer reached out to him for a second opinion. He found that the elderly man was going to be charged more than £5,000 for a new boiler when all he really needed was a simple part replacement.

“It got me thinking about other elderly and vulnerable people — we need to do something more to help the people who need it most,” James said in a phone interview.

“A lot of elderly and disabled people don’t like asking for assistance and if they can’t afford something like fixing the boiler, they might not do it and get into trouble. We are there to take that worry away,” he added.

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James is well aware that even if he wanted to, he couldn’t always provide free service if the funding wasn’t there. He admitted that at times, it had been a “struggle”.

His non-profit relies mostly on donations and crowdfunding to support the service. However, James has already accumulated around £8,000 in debt from running the service. He assures that everything is under control though, saying that he is slowly paying it off by making monthly £100 installments to the bank.

But even when the funding is running dry, he still offers a 25% discount.

“As long as I have enough money to fill up the tank in my car, I will be there to try and help the people who need it,” James said.

Christine, the daughter of the woman he helped, described James as an “angel dressed as a plumber.”

She told CNN that she met James when her mother’s boiler broke and they needed someone who could fix it at a reduced cost.

“James is an absolute star, it was overwhelming to see that it cost nothing,” she said.

"We must be compassionate human beings and take care of each other," says James Anderson, the plumber who gained internet fame for his selfless mission of providing free plumbing services to the elderly and vulnerable. James insists that his work is a community effort and refuses to take sole credit for it. He says it simply makes him feel good to help others.

His goal is to expand his services nationwide through Depher, and the attention brought by the viral receipt could be a great help. You can contribute to Depher's crowdfunding to support their mission.

Share James's story and help spread the word about his altruistic mission. Bruce Drury, a fellow plumber, expressed his admiration for James's work and noted how appreciated such acts of kindness are by the elderly.