Morning all! Life can be unrelenting, right? It’s tough out there at the moment and further reminds us of the importance of 500 Reasons and how each of us being extra vigilant when it comes to the plight of those around us can make such an important difference. Today’s nomination is the perfect example of one such act. Thank you very much to our friend Lee as she looks out for someone she’s close to.
Hi Guys
Thank you so much for all the work you do. I’ve never made a nomination before but this week I would like to nominate my very good friend who I visited last night and who is the very definition of a woman on the edge.
Thanks again you lovely lot.
Lee xx
I’d like to nominate my friend Rachel (not her real name) to be the recipient of this week’s £500.
Rachel has been a good friend to me ever since I moved to Cornwall and she’s having a really hard time. She has three children (aged 8, 5 and 2) and the middle one was born with Noonan Syndrome, is deaf with cochlear implants, has growth deficiencies and on top of everything has now been diagnosed as Coeliac.
Her husband has quite complex mental health problems and moved out over a year ago to be with his family up North leaving Rachel to manage a big mortgage and the children all on her own. Rachel works freelance and had to reduce her hours dramatically in order to cope and while she is in receipt of Universal Credit it’s rarely enough and her husband cannot contribute much, if anything, to the household.
Recently she was diagnosed with ADHD and while this offered some kind of relief and understanding around why she struggles to manage certain aspects of her life there is a medicine shortage and a 2 year waiting list to receive any kind of help.
To her absolute credit the kids are thriving but she is close to burnout and constantly feels like she’s not doing enough, not keeping the house organised enough, not managing. Now there is the extra pressure of her son’s Coeliac diagnosis which brings with it a ton of expense as gluten free produce is so much more expensive and due to his condition the range of foods he will eat is already so limited.
She has to live hand to mouth as her pay is wholly reliant on people paying her invoices on time, which doesn’t always happen. Tomorrow she is visiting a foodbank and my heart is breaking for her.
It’s not a particularly dramatic story but is just one of many stories of people barely living and just about coping. I would love for us to gift her £500 so she can get a haircut, take the kids out for the day, relieve some of the pressure of day to day bills, pay someone to paint her daughter’s room and maybe even buy a couple of storage boxes so she can clear up some of the ‘stuff’ that gets her down on a daily basis. For one month at least she won’t be worrying herself to sleep at night.
Thanks for considering this nomination.
Lee x