Mum heartbroken as late daughter's keepsakes removed

A mum said she felt as though she had lost her child "all over again" after a social housing provider got rid of treasured keepsakes of her late daughter without warning.

Kerry Blackallar, from Surrey, said she was left "speechless" after being told items stored in a garage had been thrown out.

Among the belongings were deeply personal items belonging to the 36-year-old's baby daughter, who died in 2022 after being brought home for end-of-life care.

Natalie Flageul, executive director of customer experience at Raven Housing Trust, said: "We are deeply sorry to hear about this situation and recognise the profound distress described."

Liliana was just 23 months old when she died after doctors found a rare form of cancer.

Blackallar said: "Anything and everything I had left of that little girl was gone.

"Her favourite toys, her hand and footprints… her birth certificate, her death certificate, the pyjamas and blankets she was last in... literally all I've got left of her."

Blackallar said she had been storing belongings in a neighbour's garage as her one-bedroom flat was too overcrowded.

She said: "Everything we own… has been disposed of. I couldn't tell you the amount of money it cost."

When her neighbour told her she was giving up the garage, Blackallar said she "begged and pleaded" the housing association to allow her to take it over so she would not lose access to her things.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, she said Raven Housing Trust informed her she needed to make an application for one in the local area.

The mum said she called three or four times after noticing the locks had been changed and repeatedly asked to retrieve her belongings. Within days, she said she was told everything inside had been "disposed of".

Blackaller said: "When I heard that… it was like I lost her all over again…absolutely anything and everything I had left of that little girl is gone.

"No-one contacted me. No-one thought to ask whose stuff it was. There's no money in the world that's ever going to get me that back."

Raven Housing Trust said it was investigating her complaint, adding: "It would be inappropriate to comment on specific details while that investigation is ongoing."

Flageul said: "We are particularly mindful of the sensitivity of the circumstances and the impact this has had on the family involved.

"A senior manager has visited the customer to listen directly, understand her experience in full and ensure the concerns raised are being taken seriously at the highest level."

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