A family has been left feeling “hopeless” and with their “life stripped away” due to the cost-of-living crisis, as they have spent life savings moving around budget hotels after losing their flag.

Just a few years ago, John Lillington, 69, and Jenny, 62, lived a comfortable life with stable finances and even owned a home of their own.

But in 2020, after suffering debt issues which saw them lose £100,000, the pair had to sell off their beloved family home, which they had owned for 35 years, and move into a rented flat in May 2021.

But tragedy continued as they were soon forced to move out, effectively rendering them homeless.

With the cost-of-living crisis raging on, the couple is now terrified and at their wits' end – and swiftly running out of money.

"We are at present distraught, stressed out, anxious and we don’t know what’s going to happen to us," John, who is a photographer, told NeedToKnow.online.

"I don’t sleep or eat well, and we feel like we might not be able to continue for much longer.

"If we could get a flat, we would be able to rebuild our lives.

"We had to sell our car, I pawned my photographic equipment, my watch, and jewellery, just to keep a roof over our heads.

"We are completely broke and are living out of campsites and cheap hotels.”

Desperate for help, the couple has turned to GoFundMe in the hopes of fundraising £20,000 to get themselves a permanent home.

So far, they've raised £13,400 in total, but say that larger donations are needed to get them off the streets, as the little amounts trickling in are being used up quickly.

Last year's summer, they were able to get by staying in a tent outside the capital, but as the temperatures dropped and campsites closed, they were left with few options to survive.

They were recommended by Camden Council to stay at a hostel and claim housing benefits while waiting for social housing – but this would mean giving up their beloved dog, a seven-year-old wire-haired Vizsla named Dora.

So, John and Jenny spent the little money they had left on hotels and Airbnbs that allowed dogs.

John said: "We really love her [Dora], and don’t want to lose her, if we did we would not want to live.

“But after a few weeks, it became clear that we weren't being rehoused anytime soon.

"So we turned to Airbnb as quite a few of them accept dogs, we are now paying between £80-£100 per night.

"We can only book a night or two at a time though as we don’t have enough money to do a block booking, which would be cheaper.

"We are relying on our GoFundMe to pay for this, if that stops I don’t know what we will do.

"We cannot sleep on the streets and don’t want to go into a homeless hostel and give up Dora.

"It’s very worrying."

Jenny is currently on Universal Credit while John receives a small State Pension.

They also have a housing plan from Camden Council but have been told there is a significant wait.

The couple has also applied for interim housing but claims their application was rejected.

John added: "There is interim housing in place for situations like ours which we applied for, but we were refused as they don’t consider us a priority, even though it states on Camden Councils' own website that age and vulnerability are a factor for interim housing.

"I also had some prior mental health issues which occurred when we lost our money, and I was getting over these, but the suicidal thoughts and anxiety are returning due to being homeless.

"I got an up-to-date medical report from my GP stating these factors but we were still refused interim housing, as they still don’t consider us a priority.

"This decision has been devastating for us as we have had to use all our resources to pay for our own accommodation.

"We're fearful for the future, as we don't know what's going to happen to us – we hope that if we do eventually get a flat, we can start to rebuild our lives."

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “In Camden we work to try and prevent homelessness and resolve any housing issues that residents may have.

“We do this by working with residents to create a personalised housing plan, assessing the circumstances of each individual case as well as the information that residents provide to us.

“While we continue to review this case, we are working with the couple to find them suitable housing and we are providing help and advice to access other means of support.”

ENDS

EDITOR'S NOTE: The press must include a link to GoFundMe as a condition of use, as per the case study’s request: https://www.gofundme.com/f/keeping-our-dog-dora?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unknown&utm_campaign=comms_7zyz+keeping-our-dog-dora

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