Please help our friend, colleague and much respected social worker Patrick Matope and his family who have consented for us to support them.

Update 04/04/2019:

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that Kuzi Matope, son of Patrick and Mabie Matope passed away on Tuesday 2 April. The family have expressed gratitude to the entire community for their support during this time.

For those who want to continue to contribute and support this family then we ask that this is via the justgiving page as this is the most immediate need. As the family make preparations for Kuzi's goodbye they will have increased costs associated with this and all financial donations big and small will help to ease this burden. We encourage you to share this via social media also.

27/04/2019

You might have already seen in the news reports, on Monday 25th March a sudden fire ripped through a home in Thornton Health, this was the home of Patrick Matope and his Wife Maybie, their sons, Kuzi (13), Ishmail (9) and Little Patrick (3).

The family are safe and well however Kuzi remains in critical condition and in intensive care.

Originally from Zimbabwe the Matope family relocated to London in 2016 to start their life in the United Kingdom. Patrick is a member of Sutton Children’s Services Team. Over his time at Sutton he has supported children and families, initially the Family Support and Care Planning Team, he then spent time in the Red Locality and now in the Looked After Children’s Team. He is a Social Worker who goes the extra mile for the children and families he works with and is a valued member of the Children’s Services Family.

Patrick and his family are not British Citizens and have no recourse to Public Funds, when speaking to him he describes fire damage in all areas of their home, they have lost personal items, furniture and sentimental. What has not been damaged by fire is likely to be unusable due to smoke and water damage. This page has been set to support Patrick and his family during this tragic time, and will be used to help them rebuild their lives. They will of course have to replace the physical items lost but also have mounting bills as they try and source new permanent accommodation.

We ask that you think with kindness in your heart and give generously at this time. Thank you for considering this.

Please circulate this more widely if you can.