People are rallying to help a man who has been living in his car with his dog since April.

Well-wishers in the Callington area are so concerned about local man Steve Davis, who has been living in his vehicle in a car park at Kit Hill for over seven months, that they have set up a GoFundMe page with the aim of buying a caravan that Steve and his dog can live in.

As of this week, the total amount raised through the page had nearly reached £2,000 – but if the people who set up the crowdfunder page are successful they will need the help of a kind landowner to provide a pitch on which it can be sited.

The Cornish Times was contacted by a woman who helped to set up the GoFundMe page, and who did not wish to be named, and she explained the circumstances of how Steve had come to be living in his car.

She said that his problems began because he has two daughters and, wanting them to be able to stay with him when they came on visits, he rented a flat with two bedrooms, but then found he couldn’t keep up with the rent so was evicted.

In April he therefore found himself living with his large dog in his car at the Incline Car Park on Kit Hill – which was just about manageable in the warmer fine weather of spring and summer but now has become much more difficult in the colder winter weather.

The woman said that black and white mould is developing on the inside roof of the car which is not good for Steve’s health due to him suffering from asthma and fibromyalgia, a condition linked to stress which can cause widespread pain and extreme tiredness.

At times recently he has been quite poorly and he is currently only rarely leaving the car to go to the toilet, etc.

Also involved in setting up the crowdfunder is Jasmin Slade, who is named on the GoFundMe page and whose message explains: “This man has been living in his car in the freezing cold and at times felt like he didn’t want to wake up!

“This man is with his dog [and] the mould [in the car] is so bad he finds it hard to breath with his asthma.

“He has two beautiful girls that he cannot see or be a proud parent because he is homeless with no support, his mental health is deteriorating and I am concerned.

“Please can we pull together as a kind community, so this man can can have hope, warmth and maybe see his children again.”

The One Callington CIC Facebook page has also been highlighting Steve’s plight and directing people to the fundraising page.

The caller who contacted the Cornish Times said that part of the problem is that a lot of landlords will not take tenants with pets and Steve just doesn’t want to give up his dog.

Indeed, she believes that if it weren’t for the warmth and companionship that the dog provides for Steve ‘we would have lost him by now’.

Our caller said that Steve had been to Cornwall Housing but they haven’t been able to provide any accommodation so far, and people from Callington are bringing him food and other help from time to time.

Those concerned about him asked someone from a shelter charity to visit recently but they feel his case just keeps being ‘put on hold’.

The idea of the GoFundMe page is to raise money to buy a caravan in which he can live more comfortably – but their reason for appealing to the Cornish Times is that they need a landowner who can provide a plot of land where the caravan can be placed. In just the first day the crowdfunder raised £300, but now the total stands at £1,923.

On his own Facebook page, Steve Davis has written: “Can I just say a MASSIVE THANK YOU to Jasmin for all the help, also everyone else behind the scenes. Plus a big BIG THANK YOU to Everyone that’s donated.and offered help, it’s very VERY MUCH APPRECIATED.”

The GoFundMe page (entitled ‘Help Steve and his dog get accommodation’) can be found by visiting https://www.gofundme.com and entering “Help Steve get a house” into the search bar.https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-steve-get-a-house?qid=b73d73a26f63dbe1adcc8700d7b9d7b2