I posted this in the quiet place, but someone suggested that people here are very helpful & knowledgeable. Any suggestions welcomed, as this is new territory for me.
A friend is living through a nightmare of a separation. A long story, full of just awful things including domestic violence, non-payment of any sort of maintenance. His family fund his constant legal attempts to stop my friend from doing anything. There's more, and it's awful, but it's not my story.
Anyway.
I now live some distance away so drop her an email or a text every few days, just to say hello. We used to work together so I talk to her about that as I know she derives self-esteem from keeping her work going. She's got the Social Services, Women's Aid, the police & a protection order, and a good lawyer, although no money left.
I've been so so lucky & never been in anything like this situation (widowed early rather than divorced). Those of you who have, is there something more I could do to help her, more than just making sure she knows I'm on her side?
I'm really time poor with a very heavy workload & lot going on in my life (a whole other thread) so I'm trying to think of a way that I could give her a cheque for £1000 just to help with some child care so she can get on with stuff (she's under similar pressures to me in work issues). At the moment, I know I could her that money and never want it back, but ... it's tricky & difficult and I'm so bloody middle class. Is there something I don't know about/haven't thought of that I could do? Like me, she's very competent, independent, professional, etc etc.
Of course, what I'd really like to do is commission a hit-man