A six-month old baby was placed on a “breathing tube” and left critically ill after prolonged exposure to mould, despite his mum’s numerous complaints to Bolton at Home.
Emma Needham, from Horwich, first reported seeing “mould and damp” in her flat to Bolton at Home when she was pregnant with Theo, her second son, in April.
“My oldest son, Lincoln, who is two years old, was already showing symptoms of illness due to the mould”.
Emma said: “I knew I wanted the issue dealt with before the new baby came.
“At first, I raised it with my tenancy support member, who told me that they had escalated the reports to Bolton at Home. Weeks were going by, and I wasn’t hearing anything back, so I took the issue to Bolton at Home directly.
Despite raising concerns multiple times with Bolton at Home, the mould and damp in Emma’s property was not sorted in time for baby Theo’s birth. At the time, her son Lincoln, who is now two years old was in and out of hospital with bronchitis.
“At this point I was trying anything and everything to stay anywhere else. I stayed at my dad’s, at my friend’s, the kids were here there and everywhere.
“As a mum you should be able to protect your children, and it was killing me that I couldn’t do anything.”
She added: “Me and my dad were cleaning out the property and we pulled out a big toy box of Lincoln's.
“To my horror; it was full of green fluffy mould. He’d been playing with his toys and kids at this age they like to bite and put things in their mouth, he’d been chewing on the toys with the mould on them.”
She was allegedly told to use “white vinegar” to get rid of the mould by Bolton at Home.
Emma said: “Months later, the mould had spread to the bathroom and this time it was black.
“I was too scared to bathe my kids, obviously the damp gets into the air and can spread. I had to take my kids over to my dad’s or my friend’s houses to just bathe them.
“Bolton at Home didn’t want to know, they just told me that I wasn’t the only person who was calling with a complaint and that I’d have to wait for anything to be done.
“They didn’t give me a time frame for the work even though I told them multiple times my children were in the property and were getting ill.”
Mould was discovered in Emma’s kitchen, bathroom, living room, along the windows and even in her children’s bedrooms.
Emma and her two children were placed in a hotel for seven days whilst the cleaning was set to take place.
“I phoned my liaison officer from Bolton at Home, who was meant to be helping me with finding somewhere to go. She wouldn’t pick up the phone, she’d disappeared.
“I was left on the streets, in the pouring rain with my two children for over four hours. I sat in the park with my kids and broke down.
“At this point I contacted Councillor Ryan Bamforth, he was so helpful, he agreed to raise the issue with them to get it escalated.
“To make matters worse, when I returned home that evening they had missed the kitchen, so it was still covered in black mould. I rang Bolton at Home straight away, I was terrified for my kid’s safety, and I told them that if anything happens to my children as a result of their mistakes, I won’t be responsible for my own actions.
Emma’s children continued to suffer in health as a result of the mould, with Theo experiencing “laboured and heavy breathing every day.”
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“I went to Bolton at Home’s office with my friend and we both explained the situation. They just asked what we wanted them to do about it.
“We couldn’t get even an e-mail address. We were told that escalating a complaint could take up to 10 days, which is time we don’t have, and that there was allegedly no one in the building at the time who was able to come and speak to us.
“I was crying. I was so upset, I’m not a confrontational person and I just wanted to protect my kids.
“They put us up in a hotel for a second time. I would’ve slept in a tent or outside, anywhere but there. It wasn’t safe for me or my family.”
Five days later, Emma received a phone call from the liaison officer who had failed to provide her and her children with suitable accommodation following her previous hotel stay.
“I didn’t even receive an apology” Emma said: “She just told me that she didn’t mean to phone me, she’d phoned me by accident.”
Four days after returning home, baby Theo’s health took a turn for the worst.
Emma recalls her newborn baby was “struggling to breathe”, “screaming” and was “not eating” due to poor health and was admitted to Bolton Royal for five days.
“I called Bolton at Home from the hospital, I sent them pictures of my sick baby, they had nothing to say about it. Not an apology for the mess they had caused or the impact on my son’s life.
“They agreed to come and fit vents in the house after we came out of hospital and left the house a mess. There was dust everywhere, Theo had a weakened immune system, he couldn’t breathe in dust, it was too unsafe.
“You could write your name in the dust on the windowsill, that’s how thick it was. The workmen had left the radio blasting and gone home.
“They came back to install a second set of vents and also left a massive crack in the bedroom wall.
“I broke down, I suffer with mental health and even though it might seem small to other people, it felt like the end of the world to me.
“They offered someone to come and fill it for me within the hour, but I needed more time. I live alone with my kids, I felt uncomfortable with a stranger in my property. I asked to reschedule. Since then I’ve not heard from Bolton at Home.
“The sooner I’m out of this property, the better. I feel like I’m trapped, like I have to deal with this or I’ll be homeless. I just want a home that can be a safe space for me and my children – they need better than this, I’d live anywhere, but it’s their futures I’m worried about.
“I’m not the most fortunate in life, I’ve tried to go private, but it feels impossible. I don’t have anyone in my life who can be a guarantor.
“I want to warn other people who might be going through the same situation, you need to escalate the situation. Ryan Bamforth helped massively when I escalated it to him.
“I hope and pray that other families don’t have to go through what I’ve been through. Bolton at Home needs to step up and take action.
“My little boy couldn’t have been here. I was begging when I was pregnant, enough is enough.”
Emma’s ordeal was bought up at Bolton’s Full Council meeting on Wednesday (November 27) by Councillor Bamforth.
The question was put to Councillor Martin Donaghy, who described feeling “horrified at the way this woman and these children were treated.
“Quite frankly, this is poor performance, and this is not acceptable. Bolton at Home are a social housing provider, regulated by the social housing regulator.
“Within policies on damp and mould, every social housing provider should be responding to concerns raised within seven days where there is an immediate risk to health and 21 days where there is a potential for it to impact on a person’s health.
“If they have failed to meet this requirement, she should raise her concerns on the impact of her health and children to the housing ombudsman.
“Whilst the council does have powers to inspect and enforce in relation to damp and mould for social housing providers, it would only do so where there is an open complaint with the housing ombudsman.
“Can I further say this, I would like to apologise on behalf of Bolton at Home for the way she has been treated and for the child to end up in hospital as a result of the effects of how they were treated.
“I will be writing to Councillor Mort, who is a member on the board of Bolton at Home to get this raised as a matter of urgency as to what went wrong that this family were left for five months without any decisive action being taken.
“As soon as I am able, I will raise this matter with Councillor Khurram to ensure that such a situation does not happen again in this borough.”
A spokesperson for Bolton at Home said: “We take damp and mould seriously and have procedures in place to deal with issues quickly.
“When our customer first reported the mould to us, we arranged for it to be removed as a matter of urgency and also instructed a specialist surveyor to inspect the property.
“From this inspection we identified some remedial works that would help to lower humidity levels within the home that were contributing towards the issues. We temporarily moved our customer to a hotel while works were undertaken to install new ventilation measures, improve airflow, and treat any remaining mould.
“All of these works, including the removal of all mould, were completed before our customer moved back into the property. We have provided advice to our customer on ways of reducing humidity and improving ventilation within her home. We’ll continue to support our customer and her family through regular follow-up checks to prevent any mould from returning.”
Got a story? Email me at Leah.Collins@newsquest.co.uk
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