Many years ago, I lived with my new wife and newer child in desperate housing conditions. I managed to find us a small affordable house with a garden in a nice part of town. It was going to be a pinch to afford the move but I was getting near to arranging it and my wife was delighted and I was very excited. Then a bombshell, the mortgage company insisted that I deposit a sum to cover the cost of re-wiring the house before they would approve the loan. I didn't have the money, I approached a member of the family, who said he would consider making a loan. I found him difficult to contact after the conversation and knew that he wasn't going to help so went to my bank. They turned me down. I was sitting in the office and an older colleague asked me if anything was bothering me and I told him that it looked like I wouldn't be moving and told him the story. He said how sorry he was and went away. Ten minutes later, he came back and said, 'Cheer up, you're moving into a nice house'. He had rung my bank and told them that he would make a deposit of the amount I needed to guarantee the loan and they agreed to make it, the money was in my account. It was like winning the lottery. I have never forgotten the kindness of a relative stranger and the faith he had in me to repay the bank. My point is that it is distressing to think that if members of the forum find themselves unable to cope when sudden unexpected events throw their finances awry and find themselves in distress over a few hundred dollars/pounds/euros, they should have a way out. If people in sudden financial distress could email one individual member (so their privacy is preserved), they could give others, who wish to help other members, the facts without names, and we could pffer help out to the extent that we can.
