More than £4,000 has been raised to help the owners of a post office who have been devastated by a flash flood caused by a torrential rainstorm.
Sicklesmere Post Office, owned by Caroline and Daryn Reffell, suffered serious damage last week after a torrent of water engulfed their village shop and the first floor of their home.
The fire service was called to the store and tried to pump water into a nearby river, but much of the damage was already done.
Following the devastating flood, the local community have rallied round their local shop, donating £4,043 in the first 24 hours.
Mrs Reffell said: “The community are the best.
“Unknown to us people had been asking my daughter online if they could set something up for us and eventually she said OK.
“We are absolutely overwhelmed. We can’t believe how lovely everyone has been.
“We’ve had people coming round with coffees and cakes and endless offers of help.
“It’s brought tears to our eyes. It is exactly what community is about. They’ve all been fantastic.
“It really was like a tsunami, no word of a lie.
“We had no idea which door to close. There is no way you can stop water going that fast.
“We’d just got back to working full time again. It was our first week back.
“It’s wonderful here. It’s the best community we could possibly be in.
“We’re overwhelmed with the support and it’s the little things that people have been doing for us.
“We’ll make sure that when all of this is over and we’re back to normal that we show our appreciation because without the community I don’t know where we would be.”
MORE: ‘It was like a tsunami’ - Post Office devastated by flash floodResidents posted on a GoFundMe page to pass on their support to the shop.
One said: “We love our village shop, and Caroline and Daryn are amazing.
“They have kept us all going during lockdown with essential supplies and a friendly smile and chat. We hope they’ll be able to reopen before too long.”
Another added: “It’s a wonderful village shop, and we’ve often popped in when we’ve been visiting. We send our best wishes to Daryn and Caroline.”
Mrs Reffell said that she does not know when the shop will reopen, but they are continuing paper rounds and will be up and running as soon as they can.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here