Fundraiser for my sis & the horror of DRY ROT!

Hi, my name is Emma and I'd like you to meet my sister Mary - one of the bravest, most courageous women I know. This past year she has fought and beaten breast cancer with the grace, grit, and determination that I can only hope I would have in the same circumstances.

Mary lives alone in a one-bedroom flat in a terraced house in Bristol. A beautiful home she has created for herself over the past fourteen years. In the last few weeks, she has had the devastating news that a partition wall in her flat that she shares with a neighbour is riddled with dry rot which has worked its way through her downstairs hallway and up through into the joists of her upstairs flat. A devastation that will cost her at least £20,000 to remedy. The fault lies with her neighbour, yet the damage this dry rot has caused in Mary’s home will need to be paid for by her. House and building insurance do not cover dry rot and Mary quite simply does not have the funds to cover such a huge cost, nor the salary to pay back loans she may inevitably have to take out.

Mary works as an NHS Learning Disability Nurse supporting the families of children with significant special needs in her community in Bristol. It is incredibly valuable work that anyone with special needs children in their family will appreciate. However, no matter the value she adds to her community and the families she works with, like many public sector jobs, her salary does not reflect the true worth of the positive impact she has on the lives she affects.

She is also still recovering from the effects of cancer treatment and the brutal impact that chemotherapy and a mastectomy have had on both her mental and physical health. Ideally, this is a period of her life where she should be keeping stress levels low, getting as much sleep as possible and focusing on her well-being, health, and recovery. Unfortunately, dry rot does not go hand in hand with good sleep and low stress!

I have set up this gofundme page with the aim of raising as much money as possible for Mary to help her with the costs of this devastating and unavoidable situation. I appreciate that many of us have been hit with increased costs recently. I certainly don’t have the thousands that Mary needs but through even the smallest tokens of generosity from family, friends, colleagues, and even strangers to Mary, I am hopeful and optimistic that we could all make a huge difference in this situation.

If this story touches you in any way, I invite you to donate via this GoFundMe page. Feel free to share this fundraiser with your friends and family too. The funds will reach Mary directly and will make the hugest difference to her as she navigates this dreadful situation.

I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support and I know Mary will be forever touched by your kindness and generosity.

Emma xxx