From Floods to Community
- Joe Sims
- Nov 26
- 4 min read
Hello you wonderful lot…
Here we are, racing through November towards the end of the year. Christmas decorations and lights popping up everywhere and even snow!! As always at this time of year, we start to look out for those who might need a helping hand to find some ‘Festive Joy’. And we’ve had a few nominations come in which we immediately felt we wanted to help. So this week we are splitting the pot between a family whose life was turned upside down by the recent floods in Monmouthshire and an organisation creating Christmas gift bags for women and children escaping domestic violence and will be spending the holidays in a refuge shelter. We’re hoping we can bring a little joy where it might otherwise have been absent.
Stay warm, stay kind, stay fabulous – and thank you for your continued support which allows us to keep making a difference in the world every week. We love you all!
Your admins.. xxx
Our first nomination came in from Karin
Dear lovely team,
I saw this on FB after the terrible floods in Monmouth. Wondered if we could help. Gary Raymond is a writer and broadcaster for BBC Radio Wales. He had just opened a record shop in Monmouth as well. He and his family had to be rescued from the flood.
Thanks,
Karin
On November 15th, my sister Amelia, her husband Gary, and their four-year-old son Gabriel had their world turned upside down when their home in Monmouth, Wales, was devastated by flooding caused by Storm Claudia. In the middle of the night, they were woken by rising water rushing into the house, and the situation became so dangerous so quickly that they had to be rescued and evacuated by boat. By morning, almost everything downstairs was completely destroyed — furniture, cherished personal belongings, kitchen, bathroom, appliances, toys, and even essential utilities like electricity, heating, and gas — leaving their home unsafe and unlivable. Their car was also ruined, making an already impossible situation even harder. Their two cats were thankfully rescued the following day, but all their supplies and comforts were also lost.
Adding to the stress, their insurance is not covering the disaster. Their home is a Grade II–listed cottage, which means any repairs or alterations are likely to be expensive and complex. They are now facing the enormous cost of drying out the house, repairing the structure, and replacing the basic essentials they need to live safely and comfortably again. At the moment, they have no power, no heating, and no clear path forward without help.
With Christmas approaching, it’s an especially difficult time to cope with so much upheaval. Gabriel is handling everything remarkably well, but it’s still a lot for a young child to process.
I’m setting up this GoFundMe because they truly need support to get back on their feet. Any contribution — no matter the size — will go directly toward repairs, essential items, and helping the whole family (including the cats!) regain some stability.
Thank you for taking the time to read their story, please share, and donate if you can. Your kindness will make a real difference.
And Charlotte pointed us to this wonderful annual project…
This is the 8th year of Waltham Forest Secret Santa. We collect new gifts for women and children escaping domestic abuse, forced to spend the holiday season in a refuge shelter. We create lovely gift bags with these new donations, and then distribute them locally and around London, through domestic violence charities.
The first year we collected 200 gift bags, then 500, and last year around 1000 lovely gift bags were handed out!
In the year to Mar 2024, there were 94,609 reported incidents of domestic abuse. The good news is this is slightly down on the previous year. The bad news is this is still unforgivably high.
Our aim is to give these women and their children some hope, joy, & love from their community. A gift bag full of some brand new luxury and fun just for them. We hope to brighten these dark days, and let them know they are worthy of nice things. Some quotes we have received in the past show this can be the beacon of light they need:
"It really restored my faith in people, and that there is hope and a brighter future waiting for my daughter and me"
"I wasn't expecting to be overwhelmed by such love. The whole experience brought me to tears. The gifts were thoughtful and will always be appreciated"
With this money, we will also help support the local independent shops. We will buy gifts from small Waltham Forest stores, and will constantly post photos of what the GoFundMe money has bought, from where, on our Instagram page. So you will be helping the community in more ways than one!
This year the gifts will be given to: Solace Women's Aid, Refuge Women's Aid, Ashiana Network Charity , Kiran Support Services , Medaille Trust , Sista Space and Haven Network . If you know of another local charity you think we should support please let us know!
The last day for donations here is Wednesday 19th Nov. This will give us a few days to buy final gifts before the last collection day of Sun 23rd Nov.
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