Hi my name is Carley and I'm trying to raise funds to help one of my long time friends out during her time of need. She is very very private & has been through a lot, so right now, I won't be sharing her name.

I met her through TripAdvisor in 2015 after we both booked a trip to New York and turned to the forums for advice. We became very close very quickly. People kept thinking we were sisters and even called us twins.

We live around a 2 hour drive away from each other and so distance and just busy lives in general meant naturally, we don't see each other as much as we would like to.

She has been going through SO much recently and I'm struggling on ways to help her.

She has recently become a single mamma to two beautiful children. One child has complex needs and requires a lot of time and attention. She runs her own business and juggles a lot!

Since being a single mamma, she's had to sign up to certain benefits, which in turn means she has to close down her business to be able to receive these benefits. This makes me so so sad as she has worked her arse off building the business to where it is!

She's broken. Mentally, emotionally and financially and I thought I'd shoot my shot on here in trying to raise a few pounds for her to help ease the burden for a bit, if possible.

If you could help by donating, I know she and I would be forever grateful.

She has NO idea I'm doing this and I'd love to be able to surprise her during her time of need.

Thank you!!!