The family have been staying at a hotel after extensive flooding destroyed their home, including their furniture, precious photo albums and Christmas decorations
A young family whose home was wrecked by flooding just days before Christmas won’t be able to move back in for another four months. Catherine and Robert Jones, along with their two small children, were one of a number of families left devastated when water gushed into their homes in Briton Ferry, Neath Port Talbot, on Monday, ruining precious belongings and memories.
Robert, a postal worker, received a call from his wife Catherine early in the morning to say that water had begun flooding into their home. After sending their two children, five-year-old George and eight-year-old Emily, to their grandparents’ house, Catherine and Robert were forced to begin shovelling the water, which reached two-feet high in some places, out of their home.
The family’s Christmas tree among other items including photo albums and furniture were ruined in the flood. Robert said: “We had a train track around the bottom of the Christmas tree but that is just all over the living room now. All the ornaments and Christmas toys, we buy one or two new ones every year, they are all ruined.”
Adding to their upset, the family have now found out that they won’t be able to move back into the home they rent on Hunter Street for four months, in order to allow the property to fully dry out.
In recent days, the distraught family have been living out of a hotel room, but thanks to the kindness of others they now have a place to stay for free for the next month, as well as over £1,000 to get them through the next few difficult days. Catherine said the support “is going to make such a difference” for her family.
The money has been raised through a GoFundMe, which was set up by Catherine’s colleagues to support the “caring and hardworking” family.
Catherine has worked as a carer at Haven Home Care for the last seven years, and her boss Jamie Broben describes her as someone who “always puts others first”.
When her colleagues heard about the devastating flooding, they decided that instead of holding their annual secret Santa they would put the funds together in order to help Catherine and her family get through this “stressful” time.
“We are like family,” Jamie said. “We wanted to do as much as possible to support her. We set up the GoFundMe publicly, and we’ve managed to get it into four figures already, so we just hope that will help them over Christmas.”
The care company has also managed to find someone who is willing to let the family stay in an Airbnb for free for the next month and Catherine hopes they will be able to move into there in the next few days.
Her colleagues and the local community have already rallied together to make sure they have a Christmas tree in the Airbnb to replace the one they lost at home, and to try and keep things as normal as possible for George and Emily.
“We’re all going to try to get some presents for the kids as well,” Jamie added. Catherine said the support the family has received from those around them is “amazing”.
“I didn’t expect it at all, so it’s really amazing and lovely,” she said. “I think it’s the support that gets you through the difficult times.”
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