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Generous Brits have rallied together to raise money for victims of last week’s riots with funds to rebuild a torched library in Liverpool and replace a burnt out car in Middlesbrough.
Thousands have donated to restore Spellow Lane library in Liverpool which was destroyed on Saturday by far-right rioters.
Thugs torched the building which is used as both a library hub and a food bank.
Shocking pictures revealed the extent of damage inside the library, with bookshelves toppled over, books burnt and shards of glass smashed across the floor.
The fundraiser, which has now reached £184,717, aims to replenish the burnt books and fix the damaged space inside.
Meanwhile, a fundraiser for a carer whose car was torched during a riot in Middlesbrough in Saturday night has reached £16,628.
It comes as the carer, Brendan Nwabichie, 33, says the incident left him ‘traumatised.’
Brendan Nwabichie, 33, says the incident left him ‘traumatised’ after his car was destroyed
Thousands have donated to restore Spellow Lane library in Liverpool which was destroyed on Saturday by far-right rioters
Shocking pictures revealed the extent of damage inside the library, with bookshelves toppled over and shards of glass smashed across the floor
Thugs torched the building which is used as both a library hub and a food bank
A fundraiser for a carer whose car was torched during a riot in Middlesbrough in Saturday night has reached £16,628
Brendan returned from a 12-hour shift at a local care home to discover that his car had been flipped over and torched by far-right thugs.
The care worker, who is from Nigeria, had made the decision to leave his car at home after hearing of a potential riot in Middlesbrough town centre.
Brendan said: ‘As an immigrant, I wanted to avoid getting in the way of people doing their protest, so I kept my car at home. I didn’t know if it would be peaceful or not, but I didn’t want to be targeted’.
However, the Teesside University Student, who is working as agency carer while studying, said he realised he had already been a ‘victim of the riots’ when he returned home.
Upon seeing his car flipped over and burnt, Brendan described feeling ‘sick’, adding that the ‘completely wrecked’ 2009 Peugeot ‘was very important because I use it for work sometimes and also for my studies.’
Brendan had saved up ‘ a lot’ over a year to afford the car and had purchased it just three months earlier.
Brendan said: ‘I am due to begin and internship in Newcastle in September and the car would have been important to me at that time, it was upsetting to see what they had done.
‘But other people suffered worse when their homes were attacked while they were inside them.
The care worker, who is from Nigeria, had made the decision to leave his car at home after hearing of a potential riot in Middlesbrough town centre
Brendan had saved up ‘ a lot’ over a year to afford the car (pictured) and had purchased it just three months earlier
Riots in Middlesbrough on Saturday after false information was spread online
‘I find it very hard to understand why this was happening, why are they attacking families and migrants and refugees?’
Brendan added: ‘My dream of coming to the UK and studying and working in Middlesbrough, turned into a nightmare because of this situation.’
While Brendan felt that that his ‘safety had been threatened’ in the horrifying incident, he felt ‘relieved’ and ‘safe once more’ after being flooded with support from his workplace, residents and colleagues.
The student and care worker described his love for his work in Middlesbrough, describing the residents as ‘wonderful people’ who ‘don’t care about race or colour’.
As a care worker, he said: ‘My grandparents are not here and I get comfort looking after them (the residents) as it reminds me all those who cared for my family and to return that care’.
Ellie Smart, manager at Clare’s Care Ltd, the agency where Brendan has worked for the past six months, has set up a GoFundMe page to buy Brendan anew car.
She said he joined the Redcar-based company earlier this year and colleagues and patients comment on how ‘lovely’ he is.
Ellie said: ‘For someone to be out doing such an important job and to come back home to this is awful. He is so lovely as well. He messaged us at around 8.30pm last night to tell us what had happened. He said he was traumatised and had been a victim of the riots.’
Despite an original goal of £3000 to replace the car, the GoFundMe has raised over £16,000.
Ellie said once they have raised the money to replace Brendan’s car, any money after that would be given to help other people in the community who have found themselves victims of the rioting and out of pocket.
She said they offered to pay for taxis for staff to make sure they got there safely and also said if they were too frightened they didn’t have to go to work and would still be paid.
Ellie added: ‘We did pay for a few taxis, but not one person cancelled their shift. They still went to work and put the needs of the elderly residents first, even at their own risk.’
The chaos of the past week comes after three girls were killed in a stabbing in Southport.
Riots were spurred across the UK after misinformation circulated online regarding the teenage suspect being an asylum seeker.
