Gary Lineker among donors to appeal after charity allotment vandalised

Gary Lineker has donated money to a woman’s charity allotment, which had been used to feed more than 1,600 people during the cost of living crisis, after vandals ruined her land by pouring salt over it.

Carly Burd, from Harlow in Essex, transformed her garden into an allotment to help feed people who were struggling to pay for food. The 43-year-old visited the plot of land last Saturday to discover that about 5kg of salt, which causes plants to dehydrate, had been poured over the areas where she grew organic produce.

The gardener, who has multiple sclerosis (MS) and lupus, has started a GoFundMe page for her initiative, which has accumulated about £88,000. One of the top donations was listed as being from Lineker.

Burd, known as carlyburd43 on TikTok, shared a video of the damage with her 17,000 social media followers and said she was “absolutely heartbroken” by the vandalism. The gardener said the quantity of salt destroyed enough potatoes and onions to feed more than 300 people. She added: “Someone’s jumped over in the night and put salt all over the land.

“That means everything I’ve planted won’t grow and I can’t replant on it because it won’t grow. All the hours and hours and hours of work that we’ve put in is now dead, and they’ve done it everywhere.”

In response to the video, Lineker, the former England and Tottenham Hotspur striker, wrote on Twitter: “Why would you ever do something like that?”

Despite the vandalism, Burd insisted that it “won’t stop me” and pledged to continue her initiative.

Boxes containing fruit and vegetables grown in Burd’s garden, in addition to dry foods and other essentials, are distributed to households through the scheme.

Burd first started growing fruit and vegetables in her garden in July 2022 to give to vulnerable members of her local community as part of her A Meal on Me With Love initiative for people on benefits, those on low incomes and pensioners.

She also expressed sympathy with households struggling through the cost-of-living crisis. “I’m on disability, so I have to keep the cost down,” she wrote on her GoFundMe page. “I can’t sit back and watch people struggle; not being able to feed their kids or go without food so they can have the heating on. Last year I went without heating. Having MS with no heating is horrific. Why are we left to live like this?”

Burd also asked people to donate money towards items needed to make a tea and coffee area, equipment such as a petrol strimmer to clear weeds, and a cooking area using gas.