Abuse survivor left in tears now dream of helping other victims is threatened

Leanne Kennedy, 29, has been left devastated after being hit with ‘sneaky charges’ which has put her charity at major risk.

She set up Free for Fuel to help survivors start to rebuild their lives by offering free or cheap furniture to get them back on their feet.

The company took off leaving her desperate for a bigger unit when her shop became overcrowded with donations in Catrine.

Leanne thought her dreams had come true when she moved into a massive warehouse unit in Cumnock - only to find out it was really a nightmare.

The mum claims she was asked to fork out over £100 an hour to run just nine lights inside the warehouse last month.

It comes after the Landlord sent out a £418 electricity bill despite her only spending roughly 40 hours a month in the unit.

The charity is also being billed for the upkeep of the area around the unit, which they claim is a mess and riddled with potholes, along with the groundskeepers wages.

She is now being forced to pay around £1,000 a month to run the charity when she was under the impression it would only cost £200.

Leanne is convinced she has been ‘scammed’ and is warning other business to ‘stay away from Thistle Business Park.’ Piping was stolen from the warehouse so they have no working toilets which means they can’t bring in more staff.

The charity had been told they would be exempt from non-domestic rates by the council but the landlord has now stated it doesn’t matter if they are a charity, the landlord still wants this money even though the council doesn’t.

But Leanne has been left furious as she insists the Landlord knew the charity had no funding behind it and was well aware of their position so has been shocked at the amount of bills she has been left with.

She is now terrified that Free for Fuel will be forced to close their doors forever and stop helping people in crisis as the place has become unaffordable.

Leanne said: “As a charity we have been scammed, we were told if we could pay the £2600 upfront then the landlord could get the bills paid.

“We’ve also been charged building insurance from February, we only signed for the keys on 29th May.

“There is flooding on site, potholes galore, the council block us in our unit as when we put the van in to load it up we can’t get back out.

“This is why Thistle Business Park is sitting empty, they secret charges aretoo much.

“I have been told by others they used to have units but couldn’t afford the extras and had to walk away - now I want to warn others.

“We have helped so many people and families from the area, it is my dream to help people not take money in but im worried we may have to close.”