A Bradford family, whose home was recently destroyed by fire, has thanked two housing associations who came together to find them a new home in time for Christmas.
Lauren Bailey was at home with her partner and two children, aged six and 11, when she was woken up by her smoke alarm in the early hours of Bonfire Night, on Sunday 5 November.
Luckily, she acted quickly and got everyone out of the house before calling the fire brigade.
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service arrived a few minutes later by which time most of the house was on fire. Unfortunately, Lauren didn’t have contents insurance and the family have been left with nothing weeks before Christmas.
Lauren’s landlord, Yorkshire Housing, were determined to help her find a new family home, but when they realised they didn’t have any other homes nearby they called on Clarion for help.
The 125,000-home landlord worked closely with Yorkshire Housing and found the family their dream home just a few miles from where they lived.
Lauren said: “The children have their own bedrooms now and we’re looking forward to spending Christmas inside our new home.
“I’m just really grateful that everyone is ok. If the smoke alarm hadn’t have woken me up things could have been much worse.
“I can’t thank Yorkshire Housing enough for what you’ve done to help me and my family. I want to tell people to check their smoke alarms and never ever take the batteries out, ours saved our lives.”
Jo Griffin, Head of Place at Yorkshire Housing said: “We were so upset for the family after they lost everything in the fire and we didn’t want to just get them temporary accommodation and leave them over Christmas.
“We were proactive and reached out to our partners at Clarion to ask for help as they have accommodation in the area. Luckily, they had a home available, and the family are now in and settled.
“We’re delighted that the family are in a new home which they love and think it’s great how the housing associations worked together!”
Kirsten Wildman, Regional Housing Director at Clarion, said: “This an excellent example of partnership working, and the impact housing associations can make on people’s lives. We are delighted to have been able to help in this situation and are just so pleased Lauren and family have a proper place to settle and call home before Christmas.”