A DAD who launched a GoFundMe page in the hopes of covering the spiralling cost of Christmas has smashed the £2,000 target he set on the Crowdfunding website.
It’s estimated that the average family spends around £800 on food, drink, cards and decorations over the festive period, according to previous research from the Money Advice Trust's National Debtline - but Ben Buckley’s is no ordinary family.
The 32-year-old is a married father of five, meaning the cost of Christmas is likely to be considerably more than the national average.
According to the GoFundMe page, Ben works in a “low paid job in a warehouse doing between 45 and 60 hours a week” and has usually found a way to get by at this time of year.
However, unforeseen difficulties have hindered his family's efforts at saving for Christmas this time around.
On November 4th, he celebrated the birth of his youngest daughter Jessica but it was far from a straightforward pregnancy, with his wife Kirsty left bed-ridden and hospitalised at several points over the past few months.
Forced to take unpaid time off work to help care for her and their children, Ben has been left struggling to make ends meet and admitted that, despite having just enough money to cover the rent and bills, he’s been “in a huge panic about Christmas.”
“This should be a happy time for us all but under the surface of it all for me and my partner it's nothing but anxiety and worry about what's to come and what we are to tell the kids and many other things,” he added.
Ben's five children (Image: GoFundMe)Evidently desperate for help, Ben admitted to being “lost and scared and panicked” about having to explain the situation to his kids in a scenario that compelled him to take drastic action.
“I beg and plead for some help so I can give my children a happy Christmas,” he added in the emotional posting.
The result was a GoFundMe page inviting anyone online to donate whatever they could spare to the family’s £2,000 target.
Thankfully for Ben, Kirsty and their five children, his appeals did not fall on deaf ears with 132 donors combining to stump up £2,075 to help ensure they have a very merry Christmas.
Ben has now closed the page having achieved his target in the space of just three days.
