The story began at the start of this year when Paula Campbell's parents wanted to sell some of their land in order to give Paula some money from it, so a guy came from Andrew Craig Estate Agents to evaluate it. He ended up luring them into a deal with developers that never happened, over-valuated the property for more than £350,000 and over valuated her mums bungelow, leaving her with a hefty loan to pay. Paula has tried to contact him many times to sort things out but both him and the office have ignored these attempts.

Thereafter they found out he had disappeared and no one knew where he was.

Paula since found out that she is not the only one who has been put in this position and has been told it is a scam happening all across the country, which has allowed developers to step in and get property for nothing.

When she went to the Andrew Craig office to demonstrate, she saw it had been vandalised and a local guy told her she was to late and that there had been alot before her trying to get their hands on the conman responsible

A claim has been put in for compensation from Allied Surveyors (Andrew Craig Estate Agents have a franchise with them), she has an appeal with the ombudsman and has received a letter telling her it will take 8/10 weeks to have a provisional decision.

This means another 2 months of trying to keep up the banks demands of £3,200 otherwise she fears they will do what they have threatened her with many times, which is to take over the sanctuary and sell up

The situation at present is very serious, as some people already came and broke into her mums bungelow and changed the locks. They left her mum who is dying of cancer on the doorstep resulting in her having a heart attack the next day (thankfully she is ok) What they did was illegal and so Paula broke in and changed the locks back. She has gone down every avenue she can, but has got no support from the police or the legal system.

Thankfully she has someone who is qualified in law who is supporting her and she keeps persisting.

Since the appeal started Rainbow Ark has managed to raise just over £7,000 including internet donations, however they are still far short of raising the amount needed, which in total is now £19,500. People have been donating animal feed and bedding, which helps alot and Paula is still out collecting money and selling whatever she can, but says there's not much left to sell.

Paula says she is not a greedy person and is not asking for alot, but just wants what she's owed through this 'fraud' and is asking for financial help in order to keep up with the monthly bank payments

Paula apologises to those who have been confused over this story, she has not had internet access or much time to explain everything online and as the story is complex, we wanted to make sure it was put down in full detail for all to see and support. For the record, if the sanctuary was forced to close, the animals would be relocated and not put to sleep. Paula origionally panicked, not realising she would have so much support, and also thought that the unhealthy animals would not cope well in transportation.

I guess also, because Paula is not budging, if they just turned up to evict there would be little time to relocate the animals

She wants to pass on a big thanks to everyone who has donated and helped the appeal in other ways, she said the sanctuary is still there because of these people and she now feels you are all a part of Rainbow Ark

HOW YOU CAN HELP:

* CONTACT THE BANK AND ESTATE AGENTS: ..

Paula has already sent photos, letters and pleas to those concerned and isn't getting any help from the legal system or the police, she thinks if others wrote to some of the main people involved, they might listen.


1/

Ask Redstone Mortgages to understand the difficult circumstances Paula is in right now, and to hold out on her whilst she waits for the compensation claim from Allied Surveyors.


CONTACT DETAILS:

REDSTONE MORTGAGES
1 Providence Place
SKIPTON
NORTH YORKSHIRE
BD23 2HL
(will obtain email and tel asap)

2/

Send any complaints on behalf of Paula to the estate agents:

Andrew Craig Estate Agents
233 High Street
Gateshead
NE8 1AS
Tel: 0191 477 1181
Email:  gateshead@andrewcraig.co.uk

Allied Surveyors plc
Westgate Chambers
3 High Street
Chipping Sodbury
Bristol
BS37 6BA

Complaints Department
Contact: Chris Rispin
Tel: 01454 858888
Email:  chris.rispin@alliedsurveyors.com

Or/and Lynn Bainbridge
(Send via general email:  info@alliedsurveyors.com Tel: 08700 740750)

* MONEY DONATIONS: Go to the new website: http://www. linnics. com/raas for how to donate (paypal and post)

* or BUY PAULA'S BOOK by making a donation of 5.99 via paypal or sending a cheque/ PO - make sure to include a note to say you are ordering the book

About the Book: ..Norah dreams of a life that her mother told her of - a life of freedom to roam outside in the sunshine eating lovely fat juicy worms. The harsh truth is, you see, Norah and her fellow chickens exist in small, overcrowded cages, in a dark, dirty and smelly barn.
One day, after much commotion, the chickens are brutally gathered up and driven away to face their destiny, and Norah is inadvertently separated from the rest of the chickens

That's when she finds herself on a long and courageous journey to try and find her friends, set them free, and lead them to the idyllic life they all deserve-Children will love this beautifully written fictional tale, which brings the very real issues of animal cruelty to the forefront

* BENEFIT GIG 11TH OCT - DURHAM

Conflict won't be playing as planned, but Colin Jerwood informed me that himself and some band members will be attending and are kindly donating some merchandise for the raffle, as has Maria Daines.

It will be a great night - we hope you can make it and if not maybe help distribute the flyers either by comments on myspace, or by handing out hard copies - (please message me with email address if you want one sending to print / email to your friends or we can send via post) or donate something for the raffle.

Fulibulbus
Diablo66
The Navigantes
AKA
Clear Blue Skies
The Casual Terrorist


DONATIONS FOR RAFFLE:

If you have anything you could kindly donate for the raffle, or could ask around - it would be really appreciated. Please send to the sanctuary.

REPOST & PROMOTE..:
Spread the info in animal groups, around email lists, share benefit gig event on facebook, etc