James Evers-Watson from Watson Care had his business’ trailer stolen – but not his positive outlook

The trailer was a key part of his Salisbury business service within the community – and now the community is helping to get it back

James Evers-Watson and son, Toby, 8, after a trailer was stolen outside their family home. Picture: Dean Martin

A trailer stolen in the dead of night in Salisbury has become a silver lining for a local carer after reaching out to the community for help in replacing what was lost.

Owner of Watson Care, James Evers-Watson, said he blamed himself for the theft of his 10x6 trailer from outside his Salisbury home.

“My point of view is that the world is cold and harsh, and while people shouldn’t touch other people’s stuff, that's not the world we live in,” the 31-year-old said.

“But by taking responsibility for it myself, I don’t get bitter, and I can learn from the situation on what to do next time.”

The trailer, licence plate S902TKT, was reported to the police as stolen on Friday morning after Mr Evers-Watson noticed it missing. Picture: Facebook

Mr Evers-Watson said the trailer, the result of 14 months of “hard work”, was a key tool used by the 15-person Watson Care team in their work supporting members of the northern suburbs community.

It was used in their work to collect and remove rubbish from people’s homes and was often borrowed by people who needed it.

“We do a lot of jobs where we literally clear out whole properties who might have hoarding problems, or if people need to move houses for an emergency, we could move a whole home in the trailer,” Mr Evers-Watson said.

“We did a lot of property maintenance … the other things as well was people were welcome to borrow it … we had a communal, community attitude about it.”

But losing the trailer has pushed back their work, and forced Watson Care to use smaller trailers to make multiple trips.

But the team “loves to problem solve” around the issues.

“That’s the kind of attitude that we try to cultivate … that whatever challenges come up, we always look for solutions,” he said.

According to the first post made on Facebook, which received more than 200 shares over three days, the trailer was stolen between 9pm and 5am on May 9.

Watson Care is in the process of getting a new trailer, but not without the help of their community. Picture: Dean Martin

Since then, Mr Evers-Watson has created a GoFundMe to raise funds to replace the trailer after all the “love and support” from the community looking to help out.

“Just seeing the love reach out … I really enjoyed it because I’m quite passionate about the Australian spirit and to see it reciprocated among people, that makes me happy,” he said.

“To see people go out of their way to help, whether it’s sharing a post or some people who go further and donate money … it’s such a good reaction to get from people.”

Mr Evers-Watson said the team were planning to get a new trailer in the coming weeks, and community members had donated more than $500 towards the trailer

“We’ve had a local provider, Basic Trailers, reach out to us … we are hoping to get a new one soon.”

You can donate to Mr Evers-Watson’s fundraiser here.