Hello , I'm Boudicca , but most of you on here know me as ‘Mrs Garrick’. I have lived in the Thames side Grade 1 listed Robert Adam home of David Garrick, the great C18th English stage actor and manager of Drury Lane Theatre for 30 years. It’s a mortgaged property that I have never been able to clear the debt on. I work 16 hours a day / 7 days a week buying and selling antiques and interior interesting items. I love my job and customers, but it is not enough at this difficult time.

I’ve stuck by Garrick's Villa through thick and thin, including a devastating house fire caused by an exterior decorator contractor in 2008 which rendered the whole building uninhabitable for 7 long years . It has been an enormous financial burden for me alone all my life, but one I have undertaken as an honour to be a custodian of such a national monument for 3 decades . It retains some spectacular early plasterwork in the 'Adam room' the whole floor of the building was restored and preserved (as much as possible) to it's original C1760 layout by me. It has been a labour of love , that I finally felt ready to pass on to a new custodian , as my mortgage had expired and my service charges had tripled since the time I first came here in 1997 . I had a buyer and was ready to be finally free to live a quieter, debt and stress free life on the south coast . Today , my buyers have withdrawn their offer which has been devastating for me. I’ve lost the house I wanted to go on to and am stuck here until I find another buyer. Just when I thought I’d fly free , I'm still here trapped. To make matters worse my service charge bill from our managing agents has just arrived £12,800; to be paid within 14 days or it starts to accrue interest . Along with this, my loan on the property is running at 8%. I am just overwhelmed and cannot cope!

It is not in my nature to ask for help for anything, I sell things so am used to providing goods for my livelihood . Any monies that anyone donates is not going into my pocket but into the service charge which comprises this years insurance for the building, a reserve fund for future essential exterior works to the structure the portico pillars and roof etc. if anyone can spare anything at all until I sell the property I will gladly pay it back upon sale, but I’m afraid it has to be interest free. I can’t think of any other way to find this money in such a hurry.

Can anyone help me through this difficult time please?