Appeal set up after Gary's treasured barge is destroyed by fire

A heartbroken woman has set up a JustGiving page to raise funds to rebuild her father’s barge destroyed in a sickening arson attack.

Gary Rothwell, who is 60 and a serviceman at a care home, had his treasured barge targeted by a gang at its mooring between Marsden and Slaithwaite on the Huddersfield Narrow Canal a few weeks ago.

Now his daughter, Lauren Scholes from Grotton, has raised more than £1,000 in just a few days from generous spirited donors in a crowdfunding appeal. 

She said: "It has been a lifelong dream for my dad to sail along the canal and work from his boat, Lunars Midnight Shadow.

“But this dream was crushed when he was a victim of an arson attack after his boat was set alight along with all of his belongings. 

“The thieves stole his tools, belongings and then torched the boat.

"During the upset my dad fell over and has fractured two vertebrae in his back and damaged his jaw.

“He is barely walking and had to sleep on a piece of cardboard at the side of the canal at one point as he had no means of contacting me.”

She went on: ”It really has been soul destroying for my dad as having the barge has been a lifelong dream.

"He spent more than 10 years saving to buy the barge to live on and travel the canals.

“But this has now been destroyed by some mindless youths.

"My dad’s mental and physical health is not good, so I have setup a GoFundMe page to try and keep him positive and reinstate some sort of faith in humanity.”

And Lauren confessed: ”I was struggling to cope and understand as it could’ve been so much worse as my Dad could have been in the boat when it happened, along with his two dogs. 

“I managed to buy a caravan myself for him to stay in and hopefully, once he has recovered, he can try to rebuild the boat.

“I am planning to use the money to help my dad clear and hopefully rebuild what he can on the boat. 

“We have managed to pump the water out, but still need to clear all the fire damage inside and silt - that's not an easy process.”

You can support the fund by clicking here

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