[Mallika]

Hi Justin,

You helped out a friend in need - there is nothing to feel bad about that! I think it's very admirable that you helped a person who's in such a dire situation, considering his kids depend on him. I don't think I would've done what you did (i.e. part with £10, 000) though I would have tried to help them out in another way.

What you did was your decision, an altruistic one that too. Since he's having a hard time, he will take some time to return you the money. We've had this situation in our family whereby we lent large sums to our relatives and friends - some of whom took time to return, others who returned the money in a timely fashion while some haven't returned anything at all. I'm sure your friend is very grateful for your help and will pay you back in due course. I do agree that £10, 000 is a lot of money, so like Flight and Hollie suggested, perhaps you might want to discuss a payment plan once things begin to look better for him, or having a payment contract written down?

Anyhow, like Wendi said, good things do come around. I'm sure someone will be of timely help to you one day