52 Lives

#42 A famIly from Ghana

Request: Children's clothes and shoes, or gift vouchers

This week, 52 Lives wants to help a family in Croydon, UK.

Originally from Ghana, the husband moved to the UK 10 years ago and his wife 6 years ago. They have two daughters, a 4 year old and a 7 month old baby.

The husband works in IT support, but lost his job a few years ago and has been freelancing ever since. Work is very slow and money is tight. They do not receive benefits, as the type of visa they have doesn't allow it.

Their story is not an unusual one. They are just a family working as hard as they can to try to make ends meet. At the moment they are barely able to cover the basics and are in need of clothes and shoes for their two girls.

I receive so many emails from families in need of help. I wish we could help them all but sadly we can't. But we can help this one. We can give these 2 young children some clothes and shoes, and show a very hard working mum and dad that people are kind and want to give them a hand.

Request

  1. Clothes and shoes in good condition for a 4 year old girl and 7 month old girl (bigger is fine). If you have clothing but don't live nearby, we may be able to help cover postage costs if you want to package it up to send.
  2. Any kind of gift vouchers so they can buy clothes and shoes.

What we did

We received so many offers of help for this family, it's hard to know where to start.

Firstly, a very big thankyou to everyone who donated clothes, toys and books for the children - Louise Brown, Emma Graves, Bonnie Nutt, Angela Rogers and Kieu. Some of you gave second hand clothes, some bought some new clothes and toys for the children. Every single thing all of you gave has made such a difference this this family's life. Please forgive me if I've forgotten someone. I had so many things dropped off, it was hard to keep track!

We also received £50 in gift vouchers from two donors who wish to remain anonymous. Thankyou so much! It will be lovely for the mother to be able to choose some new things for her children.

And finally, a heartbreaking but beautiful story emerged from all of this. A woman called Aimey Sheers, who we helped in week 17, decided to do something for this family - in the middle of a very difficult time for her own family. You can read the full, amazing story here.

"My family and I are really overwhelmed by the love shown by total strangers. We are very grateful to all who contributed in one way or another to get my girls clothes. We are very much humbled by the fact that there are good and kind hearted people still around who are willing to help people unconditionally. The least we can say is a big THANK YOU and may you richly be blessed xxxx"