52 Lives

#218 Claire

Request: Donations for plumbing / Christmas gifts / Messages

This week, we’d like to help a single mum called Claire and her 2 girls.

Claire’s partner was violent and verbally abusive. Her youngest daughter witnessed the violence, and both girls were there for the on-going verbal abuse. It has left both children traumatised, to the point where they had to receive counselling and support from social services.

Claire and her girls left the family home and moved into a flat. Around the same time, Claire’s mum sadly died. For a long time, her mum had been her main source of support...both emotionally and practically. She was very close to her granddaughters, and always helped to look after them so Claire could work.

Her death was completely devastating for all of them.

Claire is now struggling, both financially and emotionally. Her boss doesn’t allow her to take days off, so she has dragged herself into work even when she - or one of her children - was unwell, as she is terrified of getting fired. In recent weeks, Claire’ mental health has seriously declined and some of her friends (who are fellow mums from school) were worried she was going to harm herself. They encouraged Claire to see her GP and she is now also being assigned a social worker.

Claire is grieving, she feels like a failure as a mother, she’s scared and she’s worried about money. With your help, we’d love to do what we can to help.

What We Need

1. Donations: One of Claire’s major financial worries at the moment is their bathroom. There is a leak caused by bad plumbing, but she can’t afford to fix it. We will use your donations to fix Claire’s bathroom. Any funds we raise above what is needed will be used to help Claire and her daughters in other ways. To make a donation, please click the link below. (If you prefer to donate by cheque, please feel free to send cheques to 52 Lives - Life 218, PO Box 3154, Reading, RG1 9AT. Cheques need to be made out to 52 Lives)

2. Amazon gifts: Christmas is going to be a struggle for Claire, so we asked for the girl's Christmas lists and have set up an Amazon wishlist for them (we’ve added a few things for Claire as well, as we think she deserves a treat). We’ve also added some gift cards so Claire can buy anything else they need. To buy a gift from the wishlist, please click the link below.
(don't forget to use Amazon smile and select us as your charity, so we receive extra donations!)

3. Messages: Claire would really benefit from some emotional support. We would love to send her as many kind messages as we can...so please take a moment to write a message in the form below (your contact details will not be passed on) or you can post a message to 52 Lives (Life 218), PO Box 3154, Reading, RG1 9AT.

BUY A GIFT FROM AMAZON

Thanks to all of you, we raised more than £1500 in donations and gifts, so the bathroom is being repaired! And Claire has been so overwhelmed by all of the wonderful things that were donated for her girls and all of the kind messages she has received.

Thank you to Julie and Heather, and everyone who donated, sent a kind message or helped in any way. You have made life so much better for this little family, at a time when they were in desperate need of kindness. When I told Claire what you had donated, she said:

“I'm speechless and I had to wake the girls to tell them. Their little half-asleep cheers of joy were heartwarming. We are so grateful. The kindness of strangers is astonishing. You are wonderful people.”