Laravel controller that accepts a custom donation amount via Stripe API

DonationController.php

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Donation;
use App\Http\Requests\DonationRequest;
use App\Notifications\DonationReceived;
use App\Notifications\DonationThanks;
use App\User;
use Stripe\Charge;
use Stripe\Error\Base;
use Stripe\Stripe;

class DonationController extends Controller
{
    use CustomerUser;

    public function index()
    {
        return view('welcome');
    }

    public function store(DonationRequest $request)
    {
        $user = User::whereEmail($request->email)->first();

        Stripe::setApiKey(env('STRIPE_SECRET'));

        if (!$user) {
            $customer = $this->createCustomer($request);
            $user = $this->createUser($request, $customer);
        }

        try {
            $charge = $this->createCharge($request, $user);

            $donation = Donation::create([
                'user_id' => $user->id,
                'stripe_transaction_id' => $charge->id,
                'gift_aid' => $request->gift_aid_declaration ? true : false,
                'amount' => $request->amount,
                'message' => $request->message,
            ]);

            $user->notify(new DonationThanks());
            $donation->notify(new DonationReceived());

            return redirect()
                ->route('donation.index')
                ->with('success', "Thanks for your donation {$request->name}");
        } catch (Base $e) {
            return back()
                ->with('error', $e->getMessage());
        }
    }

    public function createCharge($request, $user)
    {
        $charge = Charge::create([
            'amount' => $request->amount*100,
            'currency' => 'gbp',
            'description' => "Donation from {$request->email}",
            'customer' => $user->stripe_id,
            'metadata' => [
                'gift_aid' => $request->gift_aid_declaration,
                'message' => $request->message,
                'name' => $user->name,
            ]
        ]);

        return $charge;
    }
}