My friend Nadia and her son were evicted last Friday. With no notice at 7am high court bailiffs arrived with a locksmith. Nadia had slipped recently on (extortionate) rent through illness and time off work - languages/ESOL teaching is her usual occupation. She tried to negotiate with the landlords, and to find a cheaper place - she was expecting to leave in October.

The landlords went to court to speed up their eviction - this action succeeded but its legality is questionable. We tried to gain a little time to help pack on Friday morning but we knew we were going to lose. Harrowing, mad mad scenes. All their belongings have been badly packed, some broken, and removed to storage. Police 'helped' and drove Nadia and her son off to the council offices. After sleeping/waiting all day in those offices they were sent to a b&b where Nadia suffered a meltdown.

Nadia is now in hospital and her son is staying with us - myself and my kid, for the foreseeable. The lads are doing fine, and Nadia is stabilising but we are not sure when she will be better.

We are trying to raise enough money to take care of immediate living expenses - food, travel, stuff needed for the new school term and towards the storage bill, so they don't lose everything they own. If we raise enough we will put remaining funds towards deposit/moving if and when a new flat is found.

I met Nadia as we are both into yoga and she had become a trustee for a local, affordable Yoga For All project we hope to fly. Nadia and her son are kind, friendly, decent people and have been treated appallingly. Anything you can spare to help their road rise would be very gratefully received.