Mum builds fence to keep bullies away from her daughter with Down Syndrome.

It started with teasing and taunting; but progressed quickly to eggs and faeces being thrown.

The final straw was when they started burning things. Stealing objects and leaving them alight near the front door.

No one could endure that.

Unbelievably this family has, and they continue to. The only way out they can see is to build a fence to keep the bullies out.

It’s not happening in some war-torn province. It is happening right here in Australia, in the Wollongong suburb of Farmborough Heights.

And the target is an innocent 15-year-old girl, Faith — who happens to have Down Syndrome.

Faith Mason, her mum Sophie and her siblings have been living in the house for three years. Faith’s mum, Sophie told The Illawarra Mercury that the bullying started when she began to refuse the local children access to her home.

She says she did not approve of their swearing and fighting. She decided to stop allowing them to come over and that’s when the torment began. Now, the situation has deteriorated into though is pure victimisation of Faith. Sophie says there are 15 children and shockingly, three adults, who bully her daughter.

Faith told The Illawarra Mercury, “(t)hey’re hurting my feelings”.

Her mum told the paper: “The tormentors told Faith’s siblings ‘your sister’s a retard’ and made derogatory faces, hand gestures and noises – “urrrgh” – meant to signify a severe mental disability.”

Faith now refuses to leave her home and grows scared and anxious when she sees one of her bullies.

“Now it’s a challenge for them to see if they can make me cry,” Sophie told The Illawarra Mercury. “How do I explain this? She’s a beautiful girl who doesn’t deserve any of this – she hasn’t got a nasty bone in her body. It’s difficult because she can’t go outside and play now.”

The only solution this desperate mum can see is to build a fence around her property to keep the bullies out.

She says she has approached the police who have told her that they can not do anything. She tried the Department of Housing, as it is a Housing NSW property – but they refused to help. So this mother of four decided to take matters into her own hands.

She has set up a fundraising page to build the fence. What she wants is a ‘bully barrier.’ The fence ideally would allow Faith to be unharmed in her own front garden. Sophie also wants to plant fruit trees to act as a ‘missile barrier’.

As of this morning, the page had raised nearly $4000. Sophie has written of her joy at the generosity of the donors.

“ A major thank you to everyone,” she wrote.

“ We will be able to build a sturdy fence, lovely trees and install a security and camera system. Faith is smiling and loves every message of support I read to her. She is telling me to stop being a crybaby as you have all bought tears of joy to me. Thank you so much. You have all helped to change the lives of all of us and have helped educate many others. “

To help build Faith’s fence or just send a message of support, visit this page here.