At 2.50am on Friday 29th April, the lives of my two children and I changed forever. Our house caught on fire on the top floor, and we all had to leave our home immediately.

In the time it took to dial 999, and reach the front door, which would have been less than a minute or two,, our neighbour, Jamie, was also running out of his front door after receiving the alert himself. I recall him shouting across “I’m coming back”. In the short amount of time it took to alert our neighbours and get them out of their houses to safety, the blue lights of the fire engine were to be seen coming down the road. We've since learnt that it took just 7 minutes from the time I called 999, to the point they arrived. Three more engines arrived very soon after.

I’m not sure how many fire fighters there were, but what I do remember is how supportive every single one of them was. Checking to see we were all ok regularly and keeping us updated on everything happening.

When we were allowed back in to our house later that morning, I can’t begin to describe how distressing it was. The firemen that accompanied us were so supportive. One of them advised me not to go on the floor where the fire had destroyed everything, but instead agreed to do me a short video so that I could see it. I was distraught thinking about everything that we had lost. When I walked in to the lounge, I realised that the fire fighters had removed all of the precious photos from the walls, and moved all my sentimental items in to a safer place during the fire. I don't have the words to explain how much this was appreciated. When I thanked them, they said that they were 'just doing their job'

So many people have asked what they can do to help and support me and the boys during the last week. That is such a difficult question to answer right now.

So instead, what I would like to do is to say a huge thank you to the Pill Fire Team for doing much more than “just their job”.

I would therefore like to raise as much as possible to donate to their charity, and would ask you you all kindly to make a donation. No matter how small, every penny will help these amazing people. Having a fire service in the village is something we need to support. It really does save lives.