relatives in need of our help,how best to help them

spud30

Cabra, your family are very lucky to have you.

Hope tomorrow goes as smoothly and painlessly as possible x

emilyt

Cabra you really are a kind and caring sister-in-law. Hope they all realise how lucky they are to have you. Lets hope they find a new home ASAP. Anyone of us could end up in this kind of situation.
Thinking of you all.
Emilyx

Cruiksl

Cabra, what a lovely person you are. I'm sitting here crying at the thought of what your SIL and family are going to go through. I've never been in that situation but I hope that if I was that I had family like you to support me through it.

pavlovs_dog

a lot of the things i was goingt ot suggest have been mentioned already, but a few more to mull over...

*use of your address if they have no secure destination to have mail sent to

*inviting them over for a night out, in. when money is tight, staring at the same four walls is very depressing. have a movie night, take the kids to the park, play board games - entertainment doesnt need to cost the earth

*transport to supermarket if required, as they will get food etc much cheaper from here than the local spar/co-op

faerie_queen

Don't worry about them too much, although your support will be very much appreciated and help as suggested above also.

My mum, brother and I moved into a hostel when I was about 13/14 for a couple of months as the council didn't keep up with their part of housing benefit. We coped ok, found it a little annoying being in the same room as one another all the time but got over that by dividing the room up. The biggest financial burdon for my mum was paying for things to go into storage, so maybe if you have a loft or spare room you could offer? My mum found that going to a rival MP helped the process a little, so maybe you could mention that. As they're a family they will be near the top of the list as far as housing goes, but it can still take a while.

tanith

Cabra just one thing I did think of please don't let them let anything really precious (not necessarily valuable) go to the council storage facility as I have heard of stories of 'stuff ' going missing...

I think its wonderful they have a friend like you who is willing to stand by them and do all you can well done you:T

faerie_queen

Or let them take anything too valuable to the hostel. The locks aren't usually the best, and you never know who has made a copy of the key.

Savvy_Sue

Hopefully they've had good advice until now which sadly hasn't been enough to stop them losing their tenancy, but it may be worth mentioning Shelter: as well as offering advice they can also offer practical support. I don't know what the conditions are, but we had a client moved from hostel to house with a young child, and a support worker helped put up curtain rails in the house, sorted out gardening (it was a tip!) and generally helped our client get settled in. As it was initially a temporary let, Shelter then helped again when our client moved on into permanent accommodation.

Clive_Woody

You could offer the use of your phone so they can keep in touch with friends and family save them making expensive mobile calls. If you can afford it there are a lot of companies that offer unlimited calls daytime/evening/weekends to other landline number for around £10/month (possibly cheaper).

cabra1

Well we helped them today to move out
of their house.They had to vacate the hose by
12.30pm and it was not until 12.15 that the
council rang to let them know where they would be
placed.It was in a hotel,on the top floor(no lift)
in a room thats just guessing 12ft by 10ft,really
tiny with one double bed,a singlebed with another
that pulls out from underneath.They barely have room
to move and for five of them its going to be tough going.
Its also a long distance from where the kids go to school.
they get breakfast included but have to provide their own
meals and are not allowed to cook in the room.

But on the posative side,its in a decent area ,its spottlessly
clean,with a clean shared bathroom.As we left the kids were
not so frightened as they had been earlier in the day.
I am going up there tomorrow to collect them and the washing
and have planned together we are all going to make
some nice chocolate cakes and have some fun.
It will give their parents the chance to rest up
a bit and get over the shock of whats
happened to them,because they were both a bit
shell shocked and worn out and could do with
a bit of time out together.Both are not in good
health one needing a hernia operation and the
other with osteo arthritis.The stress of this has
really taken its toll.

but your right about this happening to anyone
18 months ago you could never have imagined
them in a situation like this,both losing thier
jobs.

Thier home went with the job and moving here
was supposed to be a fresh start they just had
not realised that their new landlord would push
to have their home off them so relentlessly.
leaving them at the bottom of the rehousing chain
but hopefully this will give them a priority.

They never owed a penny in unpaid rent
and have had to but up with bullying intimidating
behaviour from this man.Even been scared witless
because he burst in and trashed the place in
a bid to scare them out,with a bunch of heavy blokes,
without any consideration to their children being present.


He turned up today as they were preparing to leave
he thought better of it once he saw DH and myself
because we know the law and would not have hesitated
to get the police.we would never have been
intimidated by him,be backed off keeping a reasonable
distance,it was quite a relief when a court bailiff
turned up and had a quiet word with him,it all
went quite smoothly after that,I just hope that after this
nothing else can go wrong.

Many thanks for all the tips and advice its been a big help
and we have passed it all onto them,it was quite
encouraging to them to know that people they have
never met would be so kind to think of them
and have had them in their thoughts,it kind
of helps you through,we are all thankful for that.

As for us,phew what a day,now wheres me cook book
I have three little chefs coming for the weekend.

thanks everyone you have helped more than you will ever know
and we are all truly grateful.