Today the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership is launching an appeal for Sonia McColl OBE, the founder of the Park Home Park Home Owners Justice campaign.
Her park home was stolen more than a week ago while at a haulage depot before being delivered to plot on property belonging to relatives.
She was moving home after a succession of intimidating incidents, including menacing phone calls and even night-time visits to her home.
The issues of park homes and leasehold properties are very similar, and concerns same landlord and tenant laws.
Mrs McColl will be addressing the All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold reform this afternoon.
The difference is that while leaseholders face white collar bullying and a whole array of tricks and intimidation in the property tribunal, with park homes the menaces go much further.
Mrs McColl says she has repeatedly received death threats for her campaigning, and she is convinced that the theft of her home is motivated for the same reason.
LKP believes that she is almost certainly right.
Police are investigating the theft.
A further issue is whether the mobile home was insured in transit: the hauliers claim it was not.
We have put Mrs McColl in touch with lawyers to establish whether there is any leeway here.
We have succeeded in getting the crime reported in the national media.
Today we are launching a fund to raise £30,000 so that Mrs McColl can buy a new home.
LKP prods media to cover theft of Sonia McColl OBE’s park home
It outrages every sense of justice that a woman in her seventies who has given so much of her time to others, and whose work has been recognised by the state, can simply have her home stolen – almost certainly at the behest of interests of which she has been critical.
To date, LKP has more than £10,000 pledged.
Please donate generously to this appeal. You can do so here:
DONATE
Make a donation on MyDonate
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Please mark the donation Home for Sonia. The money will go into the account of LKP, a registered charity, for which the trustees have legal responsibility.
If the mobile home is found, or an insurance claim proves successful, the funds will be used to continue the work of LKP.
Thank you,
Sebastian O’Kelly & Martin Boyd
Trustees
Related posts:
Sonia McColl appeal raises £13,000
Park Home champion Sonia McColl OBE has her mobile home stolen … ‘after death threats’
Park home champion Sonia McColl OBE thanks all for help over stolen home
LKP helps raise £14,682 for park home champion Sonia McColl OBE
LKP prods media to cover theft of Sonia McColl OBE’s park home
Commons debate on leasehold December 21
I hope everyone is contributing here. Though not a classic leasehold case, we do have to show solidarity when ladies get harassed. As someone who has been on the receiving end of harassment – its horrid and we do have a responsibility to help. Otherwise how are we going to stop it and how do we know where is this sort of behaviour ends?
Thank you for this thoughtful comment.
Kim, I don’t think you are a Darwinian at all, I do think you believe in standing on your own two feet, that is something altogether different.
I wasn’t going to comment on this post, and I wasn’t going to make a contribution either, and will not be making a contribution. I have an aversion to charity, and collections, and crowd funding, particularly in their modern day form. Do I care about the poor, the starving, those who are unable to drink clean water, those affected by earthquakes, Tsunamis, endangered species etc etc etc etc, and Sonia McColl’s.situation? Of course I do – I wouldn’t say otherwise, would I?.
But my financial ability to remedy/help is limited, besides don’t pull at my heart strings, that works for little old ladies in Littlehampton but not with this hard bitten, street wise kid from the mean streets of Liverpool. I will at this point reveal where I can be generous – with those I know personally, and I know are deserving. I have a project at the present time in that regard, and my generosity will only be limited by ability to be generous.
Thirty five years ago, and having left my career job, I embarked on a cycling and camping trip throughout a large part of England – whole of the summer months into the Autumn. A friend of mine suggested I ask for charitable sponsors, I was horrified by the idea. “Oh! look at me doing something for the poor and down trodden”. Surely worthy of an honour in due course?. Stick to your day job, LKP, and retain your integrity.
I think it was the intention of Fleecehold Reform and Admin that we should be giving Sonia support as we do for each other on leasehold problems. I don’t see why the Park Home Scandal cannot be included with our campaign, it would be nice to see the Government wrap the whole lot up and legislate for reform all in one go.
I appreciate that the article asked for donations of money, and that’s up to each individual to make a decision. But if we are not donating let’s try through LKP to give support where we can as this ladies situation appears as onerous as any we have come across so far.
Thank you.
Park home owners are pensioners in the main, and they are kicked around with impunity by site owners.
We intervene when we can, as with Sonia. We tried to help Tony Turner, who was driven to bankruptcy by a defamation action from a now dead site owner who perjured himself in court.
This is an area where forensic journalism could be deployed to get officialdom and MPs involved more closely. But we simply do not have the resources. The instruments of the state do exist, but need constant prodding into action.
We are weary of keyboard blow-hards who say nothing has been achieved: we’ve just bumped Legal and General into paying all costs to remove Grenfell cladding at the Blenheim Centre / Reflexion, which is a bill of around £10m.
Nothing is going to be easy with reforming leasehold. The key next step is seeing whether Sajid Javid is going to do much or little over his “tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market”. We expect this before Christmas, but if not there will be some cantankerous MPs in the debate on December 21.
David,
Many thanks for deciding it’s your job tell us it’s not our job to be charitable …
If you don’t want to make a donation to help someone who has lost their home, that’s fine but why feel you have to explain your view of life that you don’t believe in charity?
As we are a charity and your posting on a charity web site you could always make a donation to our other work so we can have more resources to get on with what you feel is our day “job”?
Kim,
You may be gratified to learn of a number of cases in which one of the largest award winning managing agents have withdrawn from a case on the very morning of the hearing? And one case where the defendant refused to back down forcing the large award winning management company into court (where they suffered a very heavy defeat!)
Comrade Epstein
I thank you for your knowledge, advice and spiritedness.
Much appreciated.
Fellow Campaigners,
I asked admin to delete my comment this morning as I felt it was and looked rather ungenerous , particularly at this time of the year.
My conscience was pricked .
LKP do a terrific job and I am probably one of the “Keyboard Blowhards” that admin is frustrated about.!!
It has been a positive year for the campaign against LEASEHOLD. and for STRICT REGULATION OF MANAGING AGENTS. we will be victorious but perhaps some of us ( me included) are getting a little “tired and emotional. “.
I shall now concentrate on Christmas and some winter ???? in a faraway land.
I shall not be making any more comments until January 2018.
I now ask that admin purleeze takes down the “ Kim requested me to delete” Notice! People might think that I posted an inappropriate photograph of me in my scanties. Really!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS COMRADES ????
I met Sonia at the APPG last week. Her situation is horrendous. What she has achieved in her life is inspirational.
I have asked the National Leasehold Campaigners (NLC) to donate to this as I believe we should support Sonia. Sonia has faced intimidation and bullying tactics for far too long. I know we as leaseholders have also felt this. Many of us feel our homes are threatened. Poor Sonia has had hers stolen. This is totally unacceptable.
Sonia has campaigned for years and changed the lives of many. It’s so sad she has now lost everything she has faught for.
I hope we raise the money needed to get Sonia a new home she can feel safe in. This is all any of us want.
Katie x
Thanks Katie.
I’ve only got one question: If the mobile home is found or the insurance pay, what right to do you have to keep the money and use it for your own cause? I am assuming the lady in question has given the OK for this?
I think the contributors would be happy to see the Park Home recovered or the Insurance Company pay up.
And then for LKP to use the monies collected to carry on their good work.