This week, we’d like to help a woman called Susie and her three children (a 4 year old boy, a 5 year old girl and a teenage boy). Susie left a long-term abusive relationship ten years ago, and they've never really settled since. They moved around between temporary accommodation, private rentals, stayed with relatives... at one point, they lost their belongings in a house fire and had to start over again from scratch. 

Susie has been diagnosed with Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder and complex PTSD, triggered by a combination of childhood neglect and the domestic abuse she experienced as an adult. A complete lack of housing security has made her mental health so much worse, and there have been times when things got so overwhelming that she was self-harming. She has been feeling angry and alone. Susie tries to shield the children from all of this, but it inevitably affects them too. We want to help her feel supported again.

Earlier this month, they had some good news. They were offered a council house and moved in last week! They've managed to get some bits and pieces of furniture, but the floors are concrete and there’s a lot more they need to make it more organised and suitable for the children.

Susie said: “Right now there are bare floors where my kids should be playing, and empty rooms where they should be sleeping, relaxing and just being children. I’m desperate to change that.”

Susie really needs help, and her children need a warm, cosy home where they can feel safe and settled for the first time in their lives.

We’d like to give them that. 

*Name has been changed