John Matchett has been a familiar site in Boston travelling the streets with his mobile greengrocery business out of his Romany caravan. All that came to an abrupt end when a bereavement and other circumstances precipitated a breakdown of his mental health. Amnesia followed and, while in hospital, his caravan with all his possessions was lost. His horse was saved but the rest were gone for good.

After several months of hospital care, John is now nearly ready to return to try and re-establish his life and his business, but his unusual lifestyle means that he cannot readily access the support with this that others expect. Unless we can get him help he is likely to become homeless on discharge. A property is there ready for him, but he does not have the deposit, first month rent and agency fees necessary to secure it. Without a home he will not be able to get on with his life and restarting the business that meant so much to him.

John is a simple and proud man who wants to repay any help he gets at this time. Shine is trying to raise the £1000 he needs to secure his new home. He will then be able to work his old round with his horse and a trailer and start to save for replacement of his caravan, after he has repaid the Shine support. When he repays the money, Shine will use that to support others with mental health problems through its Staying Well programme.

So please donate whatever you can for this chap to help get him back on his feet. This is very urgent as the place that has been found for him cannot he held vacant indefinitely and the sooner we can act the better.

More details of Shine and its work can be found at
www.lincsshine.co.uk