People of Hyndburn, I’m calling on all of you to come together now, in this time of crisis, to protect those in our communities.

The world is a scary place for us all right now and no matter who we are, we are ALL going to feel the effects of this virus one way or another. I think it’s safe to say we’re all feeling pretty grateful for the roofs over our heads right now, aren’t we? Those four walls provide protection and safety, not only from danger and harsh weather conditions, but also from COVID-19. I know how scared I am from inside my home, so I can’t even begin to imagine how life would feel without that security.

I fundraise for worthy causes on a national scale and came across this story early this morning. Amy Milton, of Accrington, and her children have sadly been left with nothing after a devastating house fire ravaged all of their belongings on the evening of the 23rd.

Can you even imagine losing everything you own in one night? My heart goes out to her.

Now is the time where we must demonstrate what community truly means. Hyndburn, we must come together now because there is strength in unity; if one of us is struggling, we must be there to share the burden. If we always aim protect one another and work together to ensure our basic needs are met, we will come out of this a stronger and safer community.

I believe “basic needs” include (but is not limited to) food security, housing security, financial security and crisis resolution. We are currently contacting relevant local organisations who I am sure will do their utmost to help where they can but we need more people power!

Amy is a mother so in this situation, naturally, her first instinct was to get the children out of the property to safety. Unfortunately, this meant they left with nothing but the clothes on their backs. She is not due another payment from student finance until mid April and has children to clothe and feed. Due to the fact that most shops have now closed, she’s struggling to find any of the things she needs and cannot afford to pay top prices for them. Let’s use our brains and think of a way to help Amy, whilst ensuring nobody’s health is jeopardised in the process.

This is surely going to escalate in to serious debt for Amy if we don't step in to help. Like many students, especially students with families, one incident like this can snowball into a dire situation very quickly. The authorities and organisations are currently very limited in terms of what they can do right now due to COVID-19.

Let's rally round and support them, so when they are ready to be housed, they have everything they need to live. For household goods/ clothes/ childrens toys I can organise convenient, safe drop off points across Hyndburn.

Grassroots-UK will be launching shortly and our membership currently stands at 20,542 . At the moment we are strictly dealing with monetary donations on this platform until we have registered. Given current situations we are extremely busy and priorities change everyday- so until then this is a reliable and trustworthy way to donate.

Please Whatsapp 07947611394 for anything press related or if you can help Amy and her family.

Thanks!