Hello there.
My name is Francesca and I step into this site with trepidation. Will it amount to anything? Will anybody help? I don’t know, but it’s worth a shot and I’m in need.
I’ll start with something that possibly repeats itself amongst the many requests here: I lost my job due to Covid19 and its global effects. In fact, I lost two jobs. Thankfully, I managed to find another job but at a large paycut and a long commute away. I don’t have a car, and our place is super tiny with no garden so I don’t have a place to store a bike. So it takes me three hours to walk to work and back…. Yes, quite the mission – especially when you realise my shifts are only four hours long each day.
Public transport is very stressful to me (I’m autustic) and I can’t afford the bus fare. Someone loaned me their electric scooter which would have been perfect, but then the police announced a nationwide crackdown on them, issuing fines and warnings to users. So that option was lost. I don’t come under any scheme to help cover the cost of commuting, despite now earning only £9000 a year. That in itself is depressing – that my life is only worth £9000 to someone. But that’s all I was offered, and I would have been stupid to turn down any job in the current climate, so I took it. My mortgage and bills take most of that wage immediately and I’m only just staying afloat. I’ve never claimed for any benefits, and have worked for over 20 years since I was a teen despite being autistic. I just managed, after literal years and years of saving, to get onto the housing market – and the very next year what happens? A global pandemic hit changing our lives forever. I look for alternative jobs every single day, but out of the very very few positions available, there aren’t any I can do.
In essence, I need a lifeline. I am looking to buy a Smart car – you know, those dinky little vehicles made specifically for town driving, and commuting. I did the maths, and it works out the best in terms of fuel, insurance, parking, and tax for what I need. I’ve no interest in anything bigger as I just want it for nipping to work, food shops, etc and to be able to park in our busy neighbourhood. If I can raise enough money to purchase one and run it for a year, it would honestly be a gamechanger for me. Taking away the mental and physical drain of such a long commute would improve my current situation inordinately. It seems such a small item to ask in the scale of things, but it would make a huge difference to me being on such a tiny wage. I didn’t ever dream of being in my 30’s and earning less than what I did a decade ago. To say it’s soul destroying, is an understatement.
A good Smart car costs around £5000 and I’d need another £2000 to tax, insure, run it, and maintain it. So if you have £7000 or part of that going spare, and want to change someone’s situation for the better, please please consider me.
My account is paypal.me/Frankielovespesto
If you’d like, I’d also absolutely provide photos of the car once I’d purchased it, so you could see your money went to where I said it would. That would prove you had helped a genuine person in need.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my entry, and fingers crossed that you can help.
Best wishes, Francesca.