RECENT NEWS

ARSON ATTACK FORCES DONNA'S DREAM HOUSE TO CLOSE.

Christmas was cancelled at Donna's Dream House! In the early hours of
Wednesday 21st December 2011 a milkman spotted flames coming from the
admin building at Donna's Dream House and called the Fire Brigade. His
quick actions averted a total disaster, but enough damage was done to force
us to contact families who were due to spend Christmas with us and tell
them that they would not be having their dream Christmas.

During the night, arsonists had broken into the office building, stolen
essential computer equipment, then set fire to furniture, destroying
photographs, paperwork and a lot more. The building is so badly damaged
that it may have to be completely rebuilt. Damage was also done to the
adjacent health suite, including the hot tub jacuzzi. Fortunately the main
accommodation buildings were not badly affected, so it is hoped to be up
and running again by March or April.

CCTV footage is now being examined by the Police, and anybody who knows anything about this incident is asked contact Blackpool Police on 01253 293933 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. The full story is on the Blackpool Gazette website - click HERE.

Thanks to some generous help, a temporary office has already been set up in the accommodation building and our telephone line restored, but much important paperwork, saved e-mails and stationery has been destroyed. Please be patient if you are waiting for an answer to any message. If you have written a letter to which we have not yet replied, please send another as a lot of recent correspondence has been lost.

Some generous donations have been made recently, for which we are extremely grateful, but it has not yet been possible to start acknowledging them - we will try to get back to you as soon as we can. The security of online donations has not been compromised as these are dealt with by a volunteer at another location many miles from Blackpool.

The insurance claim is ongoing, initial estimates are in the region of £80,000. However, this does not mean that they will pay out anything near that amount. The donations received so far are in excess of £13,000, of which, £12,600 will have to be spent on the installation of unobtrusive security shutters on all entrances and windows etc. on all buildings in the Donna’s Dream House complex. The installation of the shutters is a security enhancement to make sure that ‘The Dream’ can continue without a similar incident happening in the future. We also need to install sprinkler systems and monitored alarm system as well as improved and additional CCTV equipment. This means that we need to continue fundraising to pay for these additional features. One of the important things for us is to make sure that whatever security enhancements we install do not detract from the friendly atmosphere that we try to create for families using the facilities at Donna’s Dream House.

Blackpool Police have arrested two 18-year-old male suspects, and enquiries are ongoing.....

Len, Barbara and the other trustees of the charity would like to thank everybody for their support and overwhelming generosity. God bless everybody who has helped us.