I’m raising £8,000 to help secure a first home for my son and me in North Wales, the community that has truly become our home.

After a lifetime of moving, travelling and renting, I finally have the chance to buy a home — but like many single parents and self-employed people, the final step of raising a deposit while paying rent is the hardest part.

If this story resonates with you, your support will help us finally put down roots.

If you'd like to support right away, even a small contribution helps.

If 100 people gave £20, we would reach £2,000 of the goal.

Thank you for being part of our journey ❤️

Asking for help like this isn’t easy, but I believe in the power of community and I will always give back to my community wherever possible. My home will be a place that many will have the opportunity to enjoy and take sanctuary within the majestic landscape of Snowdonia.

A slightly unusual beginning

My journey to this point has been anything but conventional. I was born in 1983 in Cape Town, South Africa, during apartheid. My parents were both deeply involved in the underground music scene that helped bring people together across racial divides at a time when that was illegal. They were part of one of the first mixed‑race clubs in the country — spaces where people gathered to dance, connect and quietly resist a system built on separation. Exactly what those parties looked like will have to wait for the Netflix series… but let’s just say music, community and a healthy disregard for unjust rules were involved.

In 1989, shortly before I started school, mum decided to relocate to Johannesburg, putting 870 miles between us and the rest of our family and community. It was often years between visits. At the time my father ran a record shop in cape town and, although we didn’t see him often, he stayed in touch by sending me mix tapes for birthdays and Christmas. Each tape introduced me to new music and new worlds.

We didn’t have money, but those gifts gave me something priceless — curiosity, joy, and a love of dancing and connection that has stayed with me all my life.

The moment that changed everything

My childhood was also shaped by hardship. My mum was a single parent raising three children, and from a very young age I helped care for my younger sisters. When I was thirteen she managed to buy a family home, something that felt like a huge victory for us. But a few years later she lost her job and eventually the house was repossessed. I was sixteen when we lost our home.

At the time I didn’t realise how deeply that moment would shape the rest of my life.

Choosing my own path

After a year or so in rented accommodation, numerous robberies and many challenges mum decided she needed to get out of the rat race. She sold what little we had left, rehomed our pets and packed her car up with camping gear and my 2 younger sisters. Her goal was a better life potentially as far as Zambia.

I had a choice: go with them, or stay behind and finish school, alone.

I stayed.

I was already working part time as a waitress so i found a small converted garage which a could afford to rent a few blocks from my work. By night I was a cocktail waitress. By day, a full time student.

After finishing school I realised that if I didn’t try something bold, my life might become a permanent loop of working simply to afford the next day of work.

Luckily I knew of one option available to me: a British passport.

With a British passport and a one-way ticket, I moved to London with £100 and a determination to create my own path. I was 19 and only 5 months out of school.

Over the years I travelled, worked countless jobs, and lived mostly hand-to-mouth. My goal was never wealth — it was freedom, experience, and finding a place where I could feel safe and rooted. Those years brought both incredible adventures and real hardship,miracles and mistakes, and they shaped who I am today.

Becoming a parent

In 2014 everything changed when I became a mother.

I made the decision to build a stable life in the UK, and in 2016 my son and I moved to North Wales when he was two years old.

Wales has become our home.

My son is now fluent in Welsh and identifies as Welsh more than anything else. This place and community are all he has ever known, and it’s the longest I’ve ever lived in one place. On our last visit to South Africa I actually felt like I was “coming home” on our way back to North Wales - This was an extremely significant realisation as I had never felt that way about anywhere before. We have had a great life here so far and I am so happy to have had the opportunity to provide him with a safe and happy childhood in such a beautiful part of the world.

Building a life in North Wales

Over the years I’ve worked hard to build a life here.

Firstly as a self employed catering manager and then I became a director of The Bakehouse. I’ve helped grow the Bakehouse into a thriving small business and community hub — a home away from home, a real meeting place built around good food and an ethos of inclusivity.

Alongside that, I retrained as a massage therapist and created a peaceful studio where people can come for healing and rest.

About a year ago I did a calculation that genuinely shocked me. I added up how much money I had spent on rent over the years.

More importantly, it made me realise how uncertain our housing situation still was and how much I wanted something different for my son.

When I was sixteen, losing our family home shaped my life in ways I’m still understanding. Now that I’m a parent myself, I realise how deeply I want my child to grow up with stability.

I now have stable income and the ability to apply for a mortgage, but the process has been complicated and the requirements keep shifting. My next opportunity is this April, when lenders will review my latest tax return.

At the same time, a house that feels like a dream home is up for Auction at the end of April.

Whether it’s that house or another, my goal is the same: to move from renting into a home of our own, giving my son the security he deserves and myself the space to finally breath deeply and relax once in a while..

Why I’m Asking for Help

Many of the people reading this have crossed paths with me somewhere along the journey — at festivals, dance floors, kitchens, community projects, massage tables or at the Bakehouse.

If you feel moved to help, your contribution will go directly toward helping us reach the deposit needed to secure our first home.

My target is £8,000, which will help bridge the final gap needed to make this possible.

Like many single parents and self-employed people, saving a deposit while paying rent has been incredibly difficult.

I’ve built a life, a business, and a community here — but crossing the final hurdle to home ownership is the hardest part.

That’s why I’m reaching out to the community around me (and around the world).

I’m hoping that the many communities I’ve been lucky enough to be part of — locally and internationally — might help me bridge this final gap.

Every contribution will go directly toward helping secure a deposit and purchase costs for our first home.

Owning a home would mean:

• Stability for my son

• Freedom from the constant uncertainty of renting

• A permanent base in the community we love

• The ability to keep building spaces for connection, healing and creativity

What Your Support Will Do

Your support will help cover:

• A home deposit

• Legal and mortgage costs

• Survey and purchase fees

Every contribution, large or small, moves us closer to a secure home.

Other Ways You Can Help

If donating isn’t possible, there are other ways you can help.

• Book a massage or buy a massage voucher

• Buy something from my Vinted shop or one of my handmade items

• Share this campaign with friends or networks who might resonate with the story

I’m also open to conversations with anyone who has experience with property buying, shared ownership or creative housing solutions.

Thank you

From underground dance floors and festival fields to landbased projects, inner city movements and now the mountains of North Wales, community has always been at the heart of my life.

If you choose to support this campaign, you’re helping create something incredibly meaningful: a secure home for my son in the community that raised him.

Thank you.