Hi all,

This is T here. I just want to say how much this has touched our hearts over the past few days. Every time I look at this fundraiser I start to cry knowing that friends and strangers have helped us out so close to the baby coming.

This disaster has cost us over £2700 in materials/professional labour costs alone. This isn't including the extra costs of travel and food while living at other people's homes, nor does it account for the unprecedented stress this has put on myself and (more worryingly) L or the work done by myself and the 25 friends and family members who have put in their time to try fix this. It has wiped out the money we had saved for the new baby and we are worryingly low on funds as we are both on low incomes (with L being a student nurse).

The flat being ready in time is now an impossibility, and so we are looking at there options, each with ups and downs.

The first and best option would be to rent a flat somewhere in Edinburgh. This would cause the least disruption and allow L to stay within her support networks. I would also be close on hand to oversee getting the flat back in order. The downside is that it is expensive (£700-900/month + deposit for somewhere that could accommodate our family - me, L, L's older child, and a newborn). Also, most places are looking for a 6 month short assured tenancy. For this reason we have raised the target of the fundraiser so it shows our actual target.

L has extended family in the borders that could let us stay at their cottage. This would mean travelling two and a half hours by public transport then an hour walk at L's pace up a rough track to get there. It would also comes with the stress of contact with estranged family members, however does allow some level of maintaining support.

Our third option is to move to my sister's place in Bolton. This would provide a house big enough for all of us to live in as my sister could move in with her lovely boyfriend. The downside is that this completely cuts us off from all support networks and makes getting the flat fixed a living nightmare as I don't drive. Even travelling down with 4 suitcases of new baby materials (not including our own things on top) looks like a tall order.

So this is where things stand at the moment. Thanks again to everyone who has donated or shared this fundraiser. I'm humbled by you all. I'll keep folks up to date here with what is happening, and in the next update I'll explain what we plan to do if B&Q or Valspar ever pay any money back to us (spoiler: we would pass it on to other expectant/new mothers in a similar situation).

Love,

T.