Hi,

My name is Damian, I'm fundraising for myself to survive in those difficult times.

Recently I've lost my job and my landlord handed me a notice, he is selling his property and I'm in danger to become homeless. I need to move out by the end of March.

I've seen Citizen Advisor and was told to stay in the property: in this case landlord has to go the the court and I would wait for the bailiffs to show up and evict me from the place which has been my home for 9 years. I don't want to do it and cause my landlord any problems but at the same time if I leave by myself and willingly, Council can't help me to find a new place. Only eviction/homelessness can start the process for the Council. My landlord has been great for me, I don't have any reasons to do so.

I'm having the biggest reality check in my life, looking for a new place in London is a nightmare now. I found something suitable for only 1300, already started planning how it's going to look like when I move in but landlord didn't inform estate agency it's already taken. So I've seen more properties, some of them called even studio flats, for 1200£, but they were more like cages or single rooms. I might have found something, need to confirmed it, only 1200 with all bills included, plus monthly deposit. It's a garden building converted for flat so low standards but at least I would have place to stay.

With all that situation I've experienced some kind of mental breakdown/crisis. Even smallest and simplest task would have grown to biggest challenges, contacting or speaking to other people was impossible to me, even leaving house or using public transport was beyond my capabilities. I've been spending days in my bed, not carrying about hygiene or other basic needs As you can imagine, that didn't work well with my job, and they decided to terminate my contract. Before that happened I sent them honest email explaining my situation and state of my mind. I can only tell now it wasn't the smartest decision. Termination was based on my performance and inability to do my duties, which is fair enough, but I'd say they didn't want somebody with mental health problems within the team. Procedure was very fast and hush-hush, first thing in the morning and I was gone in 5 minutes.

I can't claim for Universal Credit either since I need a tenancy agreement with exact numbers how much I pay etc. I can use my old agreement but for the reasons explained above I don't want to do it.

So now I'm jobless in the hardest job market in years, I might be homeless very soon. Most people I know have told me to get back to Poland, but I still love London, I consider it my home and my best memories are related to this City, even in its dystopian stage, which we observe now. From my experience finding a job now is at least 3 months process, probably even longer.

I'd like to ask you for your help: any money would help and will go towards securing a place to stay or moving to Poland, if it comes to it. If you can't help financially, that is fine, those are hard times, but if you can at least share this post with your network, that would be great.

I've been living in London for 20 years, I identify myself as a Londoner than anything else; paid my taxes here, spent majority of my wages here as well. I don't even know how I got to this point of my life, I wouldn't have thought I will be asking for help publicly.

Thanks for your all your help!

Damian