Helping Vini Reilly...

A Message from Matt Reilly via the Official Durutti Column Facebook Group [plus - see update below]:

"My uncle - The Durutti Column's Vini Reilly - has hit a bit of a rough patch money-wise, and is currently struggling to cover basic outgoings such as rent, food, electricity, etc.

Some of you have mentioned that you'd like to make a donation to Vini, which is incredibly kind, so we've been working out the best way to do that.

As Vini doesn't have internet access, I'm going to use my PayPal account to receive any donations and forward them to his bank account.

We have looked into the PayPal situation and found out that using a donation button, as we'd previously hoped we might, results in fees being taken by PayPal even if they are personal payments.

So it seems the best way to do it is for people to just send a personal payment to my Paypal account, simply using my email address – mattreilly@hotmail.co.uk - as the 'person' receiving the money.

It also seems to be better to pay using your bank account rather than credit or debit cards, as that results no fee being charged.

Otherwise, it seems that about 5% of what people pay may be deducted in fees by PayPal.

Hopefully that all makes sense.

Any donation, no matter how big or small, is very gratefully received.

Thanks in advance

Matt Reilly"

UPDATE: 10:35 3 Jan 2013 from Matt Reilly on Facebook:

No further donations required!

Firstly, a huge thank you once again to all of those who sent kind messages, ideas, and donations for Vini.

I've just spoken to Vini and told him how much has been donated by fans and music lovers worldwide – he's ecstatic.

He's said that enough has now been donated to ensure that he can pay off all of the backlog of rent that he owed, and he's asked me to pass on his huge gratitude to you all and let you know that no further donations are needed.

He's explained that going forward he should be able to afford to pay his rent, but the debt relates to the period after he had his three strokes but before he was assessed for disability allowance.

It has been a stressful time for Vini, with the constant worry of knowing that he couldn't afford to pay his debts and that could mean being evicted from the place he rents.

But he says he now feels like you’ve lifted the weight of the world off his shoulders.

He has asked me to send his love to all of you... You've given him the best start to his new year that anyone could have asked for.

And he's determined to fight his way back to fitness and rebuild the power in his hands so he can play guitar again.

It’s going to be a hard road ahead for him, but you've all made his life a lot brighter.

Thank you all so much for helping my uncle.

All the best to you all for 2013.

Matt Reilly"