23 April 2024 , 14:07
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A gardening grandma who has lived in the same house for 53 years has said she is "insulted" by her housing association's gesture after they failed to fix a leak for months on end.
Patricia Toole, from Prenton in Merseyside, is an avid gardener at the age of 88. But she claims she can't engage in her favourite hobby due to a leak in her shed, which has rusted "hundreds of pounds worth of gardening tools". The grandmother, who suffers from arthritis and has a pacemaker and a blocked heart valve, claims she has been left having to lift heavy buckets of water out of the shed after using them to catch rainwater.
She and her granddaughter, Samantha Skillen, say they have been in contact with housing provider Onward since December in an attempt to get the problem fixed - and are still waiting in late April. Samantha said that being out in the garden is her nan's "little bit of leisure" and "keeps her mobile".
The leaking shed, which she claims has cost her 'hundreds' in rusted tools, has not been fixed for months (Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)After being let down a number of times, Patricia has since been offered £50 as a "goodwill" gesture - something which not impressed the family. Samantha told the Echo: "I walked into my nan the other week, absolutely wringing wet, lifting heavy buckets of water. Just putting a bit of felt on the roof would be a 10-minute job. They're getting rent from my nan, never once has she been in arrears. Getting out in the garden helps her and keeps her mobile. Her being out in the garden is her little bit of leisure. As soon as there's a little bit of sun, she's out there and if she doesn't answer the phone, we know what she's up to."
At one stage, Samantha said two "really good" workers from property maintenance firm Liberty turned up at Patricia's home and told her that the case would be put through as an emergency, meaning someone would be in contact "within 72 hours". But when Samantha called again, she claims she was told that there were no notes on Onward's system relating to work being completed. She said she then rang them last week, only to be informed that their system said the work had been completed.
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The granddaughter did resort to paying to get the shed roof secured with help from her next-door neighbour, but recent storms meant that this would only be a temporary solution. Patricia called the £50 offered by Onward as "an insult", and said: "I've been gardening since I was evacuated during the war. I absolutely love it, I grow my own rhubarb and spring onions to cook with and it keeps me mobile. I've been living in this house for 53 years. When we first moved in, the council owned it and if you put a complaint in someone would come round, look at the problem and then an inspector would come round to check it had been fixed."
A spokesperson for Onward said: "We are very sorry to Mrs Toole for the distress and inconvenience caused by this situation and are working to put this right as quickly as possible. Our contractors carried out an initial visit to establish what works needed to be undertaken, but we acknowledge that there have been delays to completing this that fall short of our standards. We are visiting Mrs Toole's home today(23rd April) to carry out the repairs and will ensure that she is satisfied with the outcome of the work. We are also in contact with Mrs Toole to understand if she needs any extra help from us."