00:00It was really starting to take off, we were still filling the shelves, so obviously we,
00:07the charity's lost everything in the fire and all the staff are devastated.
00:14Lesley recalled Sunday evening when she was told there was smoke coming from upstairs
00:19and says her and a number of staff and volunteers from the shop were there trying their very
00:23best to help where they could.
00:25And we met down there, we couldn't see any flames at that time, but we could see smoke
00:32coming down a fire escape from upstairs, and the fire brigade arrived, I don't know, it
00:43was about ten to nine, and even when they came, I couldn't see any flames, and then
00:49suddenly there was a smash of a window exploding and flames shooting out of one of those windows,
00:59and it just seemed to take hold, and then when you thought it was going out, and at
01:06one point it just turned into an inferno.
01:10The charity has been in operation since 2020 and helps young people either with life-limiting
01:14illnesses or disabilities of all kinds to create memories and provide families with
01:18a chance to go away on short breaks together and give these young people experiences that
01:23can last a lifetime.
01:25We raised money from the sales in our shop to buy a caravan on a haven park in Tenby,
01:34and so we can send families for free short breaks with their families, and we're all
01:39about the activities that people can do with their families, so about making memories.
01:45The charity had four premises at one point, but in a harsh twist of fate, they closed
01:50one down to move into the bigger site that burned down, leaving them with almost nothing
01:54left of the whole organisation.
01:55Luckily, they have a brand new site open just this year in Monmouth, as well as a storage
02:00facility that they hope to open to the public soon.
02:03We had two shops in Abergavenny, until we handed the keys in on the 21st of October
02:11after five years on a lease there, and the shop contents then were taken across to the
02:21newest one, the bigger one, that's now gone.
02:24So we've not only lost one shop contents, we've actually lost two.
02:28Lesley says that if it wasn't for the support shown this week, that she and her team would
02:33have struggled even more after the fire.
02:36So thanks everyone who's been there for the magic cottage.
02:39The people of Monmouth have been absolutely fantastic, lots of support, lots of our lovely
02:47customers in Abergavenny have given us lots of support as well.
02:53I think staff, I know I probably had about 60 or 80 messages.
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