Last night one of my best and lifelong friends and her family lost everything they owned in a house fire that completely gutted their home, leaving them homeless and claiming everything they owned in the world. Thankfully she and her family are all safe and unharmed.

She is 33 years old and lives with her partner and 4 kids aged 5 months, 3, 8 and 12 years old. They have lost everything. All they have left in the world is the pyjamas they were wearing.

There had been a terrible fire in the house next door to theirs which had finally been put out at 1am and because of the strong smell of smoke they had thankfully decided to spend the night at her mothers who lived a few doors down. Then at 4am they woke to somebody banging frantically on her mother's front door. Their own house had also gone up in flames and was absolutely devastated, left without even a roof.

I am absolutely heartbroken for her and her family, especially the children. They have no clothing, the children have no toys, they have lost every piece of furniture in the home that they had built up over the years. I cant imagine the cost of rebuilding a home for a family of 6 but i am sure it will take a lot of expense, time and effort to get their lives back to normal again. The one blessing is that they are all safe and well. Somebody really must have been watching over them last night.

I am writing this appeal to ask for help for the family to begin to rebuild their lives after this devastation. Especially for the children. Please help by sparing whatever you can. Every £1, £2, £5, £10, £20 or however much you can spare will help. I cant imagine being in their situation but one thing is for sure, we all have more than they have right now so please lets come together and help them.