Anns Hallway

I want to tell you a story about a friend of mine.  A friend who worked and saved hard for her dream home, and had that dream shattered.

Many of you may have seen that show “Cowboy Builders” on five, whenever I have seen it I have sat aghast at the sheer devastation these unscrupulous people leave in their wake. It’s not only the buildings they destroy but very clearly the lives of the people/families who they prey upon.

Sadly, a friend and designer-maker Ann of handmade eco homewares Snowdrops and Daisies and The Tea Cosy Shop and her family have fallen prey to just such an unscrupulous builder. The house, which was meant to benefit from a beautiful new extension, now lies in a total shambles: no electrics in the kitchen, wonky floors, windows that open inwards instead of outwards, in some areas no protective material on the outer skin of the extension, exposed gas pipes and electrical wires in outside walls, garden used as a building materials dumping ground….I could go on. You can read the whole nightmarish ordeal here on Ann’s blog.

What WE can do to help Ann and her family:

1. Spread the word!! Obviously Ann cannot name the builders in question for legal reasons but by telling Ann’s story and raising the profile of this all too common issue we can help! So, get blogging, twittering and facebooking about this.
2. Subscribe to Ann’s blog, just click the “subscribe” button;
3. If you live nearby (South Lanarkshire, Scotland) donate your time to help them out. If you have specialist skills (electrician, plumber, carpenter, plasterer etc) even better! Ann says there is room to camp if anyone is willing;
4. Donate something: If you are an artist, designer-maker, crafter Ann and her family would welcome donations of your work to make their house feel like a home again. They won’t have any funds left for little luxuries like these as their funds will be wiped out with trying to fix the botch job they have been left with;
5. Buy something from Ann’s shops: Snowdrops and Daisies and The Tea Cosy Shop.

Read more details of how to help here.

Ann's Cup Cosy