Community helps Weymouth homeless man who's tent was burnt by vandals

Stephen Bowditch lost all his belongings in the malicious fire

Author: George SharpePublished 7th May 2021

A homeless man from Weymouth whose tent was burned down during the night has been helped by the local community.

They raised nearly £300 after Stephen Bowditch made a plea for support on social media.

Stephen is training for a charity walk between Weymouth and Scotland and went for a late night walk on the day of the incident.

He returned to a smoldering tent pitch, with many of his possessions burned and some stolen by vandals.

Lee Stocker is one of Stephen's childhood friends.

He told Greatest Hits Radio Dorset:

"All his belongings had been rifled through, some stuff was stolen and the rest of it was just all charred remains.

"So when I saw his post on Facebook I immediately felt compelled to help him so I invited him round to my house

"When he turned up I said you can have whatever you need. I showed him all my camping equipment. Anything he needed I let him have."

Lee wasn't the only one to offer his help, Lee worth with the local community to help raise £290 for Stephen.

"When I handed him the money he was just overwhelmed with thanks. He was just so appreciative."

Lee added:

"It's not nice for it to happen to anyone at all, the fact that it was an old friend of mine made me want to help him out a bit more.

"But if it happened to anyone, I'd always offer some help if I can."

Stephen is now trying to find somewhere secure for he and his dog Hades.

He's focusing on training for his charity walk which is likely to be postponed for a month or two.

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, smartspeaker, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Rayo app.