LancsLive reports that James Anderson, founder of Depher, hailed Grant as a “god” after the star donated to the charity for the third time recently, having previously given tens of thousands of pounds to the cause. Grant, best known for a series of rom-coms and a much vaunted performance in Paddington 2, made the latest donation via GoFundMe despite never having met James.

Anderson said Grant’s contribution, which had been verified by GoFundMe, was more important than ever with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. “If I could rename Jesus, I would call him Hugh,” the 54-year-old from Burnley told the PA news agency.

“We’ve now (got) a free boiler for a 94-year-old lady because of Hugh. There’s another lady who has a brain tumour, (she) and her husband haven’t had heating or hot water for 17 months and now they will get a new boiler … because of Hugh.

“It’s not that it helps towards or makes life a little bit easier – it actually saves lives.”

Depher has helped over 39,000 families get free heating and hot water in their homes since its launch in 2017. The payment by Grant was made to the charity’s most recent GoFundMe, which has now raised over £47,000 as Mr Anderson hopes to have Depher operating in every town and city in the UK. The charity founder explained that he had conversed with Grant over Twitter, where the actor had voiced his respect for Depher’s work.

“He respects me and he’s got a lot of compassion for what we do,” he said. “In my opinion, that man will always be my brother.