A CROWDFUNDING campaign to help a Coventry pensioner who lost everything in a house fire last weekend is now up to £1,800.
Robin, aged 75, lost his home, clothes and valuables as a result of the blaze on Broadmere Rise on Saturday afternoon.
Around 100 firefighters battled the massive blaze in Tile Hill after it broke out just after 2.50pm.
Gemma Jordan and her family were among the 14 residents in Broadmere Rise who were evacuated at the time of the fire where luckily there were no casualties.
Gemma, one of Robin’s neighbours, set up a JustGiving page to help him to rebuild his house following the fire.
The page has a £10,000 target and is now up to more than £1,800.
She said: “I wasn’t home when the fire happened, my dad was at my house with my children and he kept calling me saying Robin’s house was on fire, although he didn’t say how serious it was.
“When I saw Robin he was devastated, I felt so awful for him as through no fault of his own he had lost everything.
“Everything he’s worked for had been taken away in seconds, he’s completely heartbroken even though thankfully he is ok physically.
“He’s having to borrow clothes and stay at various people’s houses which is so sad.”
Gemma spoke to her partner about supporting Robin by setting up the JustGiving page for him.
“He didn’t know about the page when I first set it up but he has since found out about it and was very thankful for the help.
“It was the least I could do for him.”
The blaze spread to the shed of a neighbouring property.
Broad Lane was closed while firefighters dealt with the incident and residents living nearby were told to keep their doors and windows shut.
Crews remained at the incident throughout Saturday and into Sunday morning, extinguishing hotspots and damping down.
The fire was confirmed to be out at 11.25am on Sunday and the fire service has been regularly checking for hotspots.
Click here to donate to the fund-raising page to help Robin.
The story has also been featured on the front page of this week’s paper.
