Help Sophie and Prash Return to a Safe Home

Dear friends, family, and compassionate strangers,

we are reaching out to you during an incredibly challenging time for our dear friends, Sophie and Prash.

On 24th November, during Storm Bert, their cottage was severely flooded with over 2 feet of water. After 4 hours of desperately trying to protect their home in vain, they were eventually rescued by the fire service and lifted to safety. Along with losing almost all their possessions, they’ll be out of their home for a year, with the cost of repairs in excess of £150,000.

Heartbreakingly, it has now come to light that the house has a history of repeated flooding. Being unaware of this, Sophie and Prash had no idea of the risks and actually spent the first half of Storm Bert helping their elderly neighbour avoid flooding in his house. While there are ongoing investigations by local councils into the causes of the flooding, it is still unclear if, when and how much remedial action will be taken to prevent this happening yet again.

Given this, they have taken the very difficult decision to install a cavity drainage system with sump pumps to try to flood-proof their home and give them much needed peace of mind.

The cost of this system is £53,923, with an additional estimated cost of £10-15,000 for enabling works. They had initially been told they would qualify for a ‘Build Back Better’ £10,000 grant from the Government to go towards flood defences. It now transpires that although their insurance company is part of the Government scheme, their policy had been sold off and they now don’t qualify. As you can imagine, it’s another blow during a very tough time.

Before the flood, 2024 had been a brutal year for Prash and Sophie. In December of 2023, Prash became seriously ill with what has now, over a year later, been diagnosed as Brain Inflammation. It has left him struggling with basic tasks, and, at its worst he is unable to read or cross roads safely, leaving him at points totally dependent on Sophie.

Before the flood they had struggled through a year of desperately fighting for a diagnosis and effective treatment to give Prash a quality of life. They’ve already had to spend over £20,000 on unexpected medical bills not funded by the NHS. The added stress of the flood and not being in a familiar, safe environment, has further exacerbated his symptoms.

Sophie spends on average 2-4 days a week managing the unbelievably large amount of admin associated with the flood. Teamed with frequent hospital appointments, it leaves little time to run a business or take any down time. Their rainy day fund is running dry.

Over the years, Prash and Sophie have raised over £12,000 for charity. Now is the time we want to help them, by easing some of the financial strain in this devastating time. We are hoping to raise funds to help them make the second installment payment for the necessary flood defences, to secure their home against future flooding.

Their home is quite literally their safe space, from allergens, germs and a place of peace and quiet. Critically it is also their place of work. The flood has disrupted every aspect of their lives, and the constant uncertainty of future flooding has placed an unbearable amount of stress on them. Without proper flood defences, and given the new information which has come to light, there’s a very real risk of losing everything again.

The road back to normality is long, and every donation, no matter how small, will make a world of difference to their recovery and future security.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness and support.