Communities rally to help Burnley blaze family

Mum-of-two and mature student Mary Disley was facing up to having to find all new toys and clothes for her children Isabel (8) and Ayrton (6) following the blaze at their home in Rosehill Road last week.

However, a Facebook group entitled “Help Mary and her Two Children” was set up within a day of the fire by friends asking for the public’s help.

The group attracted more than 1,000 members and donations soon flooded in to The Victoria Pub in Colne Road, Burnley, and World of Plastering in Nelson.

Amanda O’Dea, landlady at the Victoria, said: “A mutual friend of ours Emma Macmillan set up the group and we saw they needed a drop-off point. The response has just been overwhelming.

“We have collected so much here at the pub, it just shows the generosity of Burnley people to help others in difficult times.

“So many donations have come through the door including clothes, toys, sofas and televisions. It has been fantastic to see how much the community can pull together in times of need.”

Mary (32), who had just started a course at the University of Lancashire, was charging her laptop for her studies when the charger caught fire, spreading to the mattress, rapidly engulfing the whole of the upstairs.

Landlord Calico has now found the family a temporary home for six months while a refurbishment is carried out.

She said: “I want to thank everyone all so much from the bottom of my heart, in particular Sanderson Dance School in Nelson.

“I was in tears reading some of the comments on Facebook. Thank you again to everyone.”