Laura and Eden - Flat Catastrophe
Donation protected
Hi, my name is Nathalie Northmore and with the help of my sister Melissa, we are appealing for help for our elder sister, Laura and our niece, Eden.
Laura is a full time working single mother, living in South West London in rented accomodation. The flat is managed by a lettings agent.
Some time in the week commencing 8th August, there was a massive disaster while Laura and Eden were away in Cornwall. A contractor working on a neighbours house poured bags and bags of a substance called Vermiculite down the chimney and into her sitting room. The result of this is devastating.
The entire sitting room and everything in it is covered with a thick layer of dust. It's like talc or flour, it's very fine and it gets into everything. As the sitting room door was open and the force with which the vermiculite came down the chimney a cloud of very fine dust has settled throughout the whole of the ground floor flat.
The hamster was in the room where it happened and the immediate fear was that she would have died but thankfully she managed to bury herself deep in her bed and she has survived. The local vets have taken her into their care.
The substance has moisture retaining properties and is therefore potentially damaging to any surface it coats and also contains silica, as it it combined with soot. There must have also been a lot of dust, rubble etc in chimney already which has come down with it.
Laura and Eden spent 1.5 hours in the house, in the kitchen at the back of the flat, where the air was still hazy and thick with dust. Within a short time they both had headaches and dry mouths.
Laura’s headache continued for 36 hours. Her daughter, who has had ENT issues all her life, spent most of the next day with a nose bleed.
They left the house just after midnight when a friend offered them accommodation for the night and as yet, her daughter has not been allowed to go back to the flat. If Laura has gone back she has done so wearing a high spec protection mask (which was given to her by a builder working on a site behind her house). Without a mask within a few minutes a headache will start and the dust catches in your throat and makes you choke and dries your mouth out.
Laura and Eden can't go back to the flat until it's completely cleaned and can't take anything from inside. They won't know what's survived until after the clean-up. They have to clean absolutely everything, many electrical goods in property may or may not survive. Dust is inside everything.
They have been left homeless, in the clothes they were wearing and the clothes they had for holiday. With the lettings agent saying it's not their responsibility to do anything for them.
Laura has found a solicitor to assist her in any legal battles that lie ahead but she is unable to pay them, which is why we need this help.
Eden is returning to school soon and will need clothes for school (she doesn’t wear a uniform) and this turn in the weather means that Eden and Laura have no warm clothes.
People have been amazing so far, with friends and strangers alike assisting as they can but Laura and Eden are going to need a more permanent solution.
So far, Laura and Eden have had to spend two nights apart this week but are now able to stay together as a friend has given them their flat while they are on holiday but this can’t go on indefinitely.
Eden is currently unaware that she may never be able to go back to the flat nor that she may have lost everything that she has treasured all her life.
Environmental Health have declared the house not fit for habitation.
Potentially, they have both lost everything.
Laura and Eden need any help that they can get. They need to be able to get back to normality. With the new school term approaching, they can't carry on sleeping on peoples sofas and living out of a holiday suitcase. They need money for the clean up so they can get back into their home, they need it for a potentially long legal battle, they need it to replace their clothes and belongings that may not survive the dust created by the vermiculite. They may never get some of their treasured possessions back, photos, mementos, Eden's baby dolls :(.
All of the rest of the family have offered accommodation but we all live the other side of the country and cannot expect Laura and Eden to just leave their lives behind, they need to get back into their home.
All of our family would be deeply grateful for any help that you could give and no matter how small a contribution you feel you could make, it would be greatly appreciated by all of us.
Laura is a full time working single mother, living in South West London in rented accomodation. The flat is managed by a lettings agent.
Some time in the week commencing 8th August, there was a massive disaster while Laura and Eden were away in Cornwall. A contractor working on a neighbours house poured bags and bags of a substance called Vermiculite down the chimney and into her sitting room. The result of this is devastating.
The entire sitting room and everything in it is covered with a thick layer of dust. It's like talc or flour, it's very fine and it gets into everything. As the sitting room door was open and the force with which the vermiculite came down the chimney a cloud of very fine dust has settled throughout the whole of the ground floor flat.
The hamster was in the room where it happened and the immediate fear was that she would have died but thankfully she managed to bury herself deep in her bed and she has survived. The local vets have taken her into their care.
The substance has moisture retaining properties and is therefore potentially damaging to any surface it coats and also contains silica, as it it combined with soot. There must have also been a lot of dust, rubble etc in chimney already which has come down with it.
Laura and Eden spent 1.5 hours in the house, in the kitchen at the back of the flat, where the air was still hazy and thick with dust. Within a short time they both had headaches and dry mouths.
Laura’s headache continued for 36 hours. Her daughter, who has had ENT issues all her life, spent most of the next day with a nose bleed.
They left the house just after midnight when a friend offered them accommodation for the night and as yet, her daughter has not been allowed to go back to the flat. If Laura has gone back she has done so wearing a high spec protection mask (which was given to her by a builder working on a site behind her house). Without a mask within a few minutes a headache will start and the dust catches in your throat and makes you choke and dries your mouth out.
Laura and Eden can't go back to the flat until it's completely cleaned and can't take anything from inside. They won't know what's survived until after the clean-up. They have to clean absolutely everything, many electrical goods in property may or may not survive. Dust is inside everything.
They have been left homeless, in the clothes they were wearing and the clothes they had for holiday. With the lettings agent saying it's not their responsibility to do anything for them.
Laura has found a solicitor to assist her in any legal battles that lie ahead but she is unable to pay them, which is why we need this help.
Eden is returning to school soon and will need clothes for school (she doesn’t wear a uniform) and this turn in the weather means that Eden and Laura have no warm clothes.
People have been amazing so far, with friends and strangers alike assisting as they can but Laura and Eden are going to need a more permanent solution.
So far, Laura and Eden have had to spend two nights apart this week but are now able to stay together as a friend has given them their flat while they are on holiday but this can’t go on indefinitely.
Eden is currently unaware that she may never be able to go back to the flat nor that she may have lost everything that she has treasured all her life.
Environmental Health have declared the house not fit for habitation.
Potentially, they have both lost everything.
Laura and Eden need any help that they can get. They need to be able to get back to normality. With the new school term approaching, they can't carry on sleeping on peoples sofas and living out of a holiday suitcase. They need money for the clean up so they can get back into their home, they need it for a potentially long legal battle, they need it to replace their clothes and belongings that may not survive the dust created by the vermiculite. They may never get some of their treasured possessions back, photos, mementos, Eden's baby dolls :(.
All of the rest of the family have offered accommodation but we all live the other side of the country and cannot expect Laura and Eden to just leave their lives behind, they need to get back into their home.
All of our family would be deeply grateful for any help that you could give and no matter how small a contribution you feel you could make, it would be greatly appreciated by all of us.
Organizer
Nathalie Northmore
Organizer
