An elderly man who was ripped off by rogue traders has been overwhelmed by a fundraiser organised by his neighbours.
Users of the Mapperley People social media pages raised £157 through a JustGiving page, whilst Plains Fish Bar offered the retiree, who wants to remain anonymous, a free fish and chip dinner.
The Mapperley Plains resident said he had been targeted by builders, who offered to fix some loose tiles on his roof for £20 and “some labour”.
After 40 minutes of work they tried to charge him £2700, forcing the man to hand over all the money in his house and taking him to a cash machine to withdraw more.
Despite the ordeal, a neighbour said the older man was “literally lost for words” by the fundraising efforts.
“He never expected so many words of support and encouragement from folks he doesn’t even know, let alone any financial help,” said the neighbour in a Mapperley People post.
Alan Dawson, 56, who runs Mapperley People, said the community’s response made his work worthwhile and showed the power of social media.
He was contacted by the neighbour in March and both the post and fundraiser took off, with Alan receiving around 5000 messages of support.
Alan, who is a local writer and publisher, said: “It’s nice to make a good story out of it, it makes everyone feel good about themselves.”
“It makes it a little bit better that there’s something good happening.”
The JustGiving page’s creator, Saman Al-Sahab, said: “Nobody deserves to have money of any amount stolen, especially not in retirement and especially not in the threatening manner described here.”
“Let’s show that community still exists.”
The incident has been reported to the police.
