52 Lives

#157 Rachel

Request: A cot bed / mattress / gift cards / messages

This week, we would like to do something kind for an 18 year old single mum from London called Rachel, who has a 1 year old boy.

From the moment Rachel fell pregnant, life become very, very tough for her. When her parents found out she was pregnant, they kicked her out of the house. So Rachel began living with the father of her baby, who is a 40 year old man. He was abusive to her on a number of occasions and they are no longer together. So Rachel and her baby were left without a home.

Her baby was born premature at 34 weeks. Rachel desperately wanted to give her baby a stable home life, but she had no fixed home, instead relying on friends and extended family for somewhere to stay.

Rachel was nominated by a health professional who has been helping her. She said Rachel has struggled to look after her own emotional well-being while also caring for her baby and trying to manage her relationships with her ex-partner and her family. But she is making progress.

Rachel has started to repair her relationship with her parents, and they have offered for her and the baby to move in with them. But Rachel is sleeping on their sofa with her baby in a travel cot. They are clearing a room for her, so Rachel will have a bed, but there is no proper cot for the baby. Rachel has very little money and her parents are also on a very limited income.

We would love to help Rachel to give her little boy his first proper cot, in what will be his first proper home. They have moved around so much, slept in so many different houses, and had to share with so many different people. We want to help him feel settled and comfortable, and give them both a fresh start.

What We Need

1. A Cot Bed / Mattress / Amazon Gift Cards: We have added a cot bed and mattress to an Amazon wishlist for them, as well as some Amazon gift vouchers which they can put towards either the cot bed and mattress, or (if they are already purchased) other things that Rachel and her little boy might need.

2. Messages for Rachel: To send a kind message to Rachel, please write your message in the form below or post it to: 52 Lives (Life 157), PO Box 3669, Wokingham, RG40 9PG. A few kind words at the right time can make such a difference to someone's life. 

Buy a cot bed / mattress / gift card 

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What We Did

Thanks to all of you, we were able to give Rachel and her baby a cot bed and mattress, as well as more than £700 in Amazon vouchers which will be used to buy everything else they need for many months to come.

Thanks so much to Jill Willmott, Lorraine Blyth and every single one of you who bought a gift card or sent Rachel a kind message. The messages we received for her were absolutely beautiful (I've shared one example in the pic below) and will make such a difference to her at a time when she really needs it. 

"A very big thank you. My baby is not moving from house to house anymore and is going to have a proper bedroom. I’ve got a cot and a new mattress. I’m getting dinosaur fairy lights and stickers for the wall, and a blind for the windows and a toy box. You have helped me so much." ~Rachel~