Hello, my name is Kathrin and I’m raising funds for my best friend, a single mum who always gives her all for her children and for everyone else too. She’s a person with a huge heart. It all began about a year and a half ago; a skylight was to be installed on her roof. She hired a company, everything had been agreed, the company arrived and set to work; she had to run some errands and left them to get on with it. Just before she got home, her son rang her and said, “Mum, there’s no roof left on one half of the house.” She thought he was joking, but unfortunately it was dead serious – the firm had stripped the roof, and not carefully either, but had thrown the tiles off the roof, which were now all lying there smashed to pieces. 

That’s exactly how she felt at that moment. There was no going back; the roof now had to be completely replaced. Everything had to happen quickly; she took out a loan of €100,000 from the bank to have the roof done. The firm did the roof very unprofessionally. She then hired a firm via eBay classifieds for the further interior work and renovation of the upper floor. And that’s when the drama really began. Unfortunately, she naively fell into a fraudster’s trap. He demanded money up front for material costs; he came across as reputable, so she gave him cash amounting to just under €17,000. Yes, today she would never do it again. 

This ‘company’ turned up four times, and then suddenly he was on holiday – one excuse after another – and then he never came back. In short, she fell victim to fraud; this was reported to the police and the case is still before the courts. Now she is left with unfinished work, and for a single parent with a mortgage on the roof and a loss of €17,000 due to fraud, the money simply isn’t enough to carry on. She got through the first winter with gaps a hand’s breadth wide leading outside because nothing had been properly clad; the bathroom has no doors, the bedroom is a bare shell and cold. Now the next winter is just around the corner and I can’t just stand by and watch any longer. Please help me do at least something.