DIY SOS
DIY SOS: The Big Build is the BBC’s flagship home renovation programme; it has been running for 16 years, and attracts up to 9 million viewers per episode in its prime time slot on BBC One. The ambitious show presented by Nick Knowles and his team of ‘Purple Shirts’ takes on extremely big builds in just nine days. They completely rely on the support and generosity of the local community of tradespeople and suppliers to carry out the work, to help truly deserving families transform their homes.
The team of ‘Purple Shirts’ are coming to Telford in Shropshire from February 28th – 9th March 2017 to help a local family rebuild their home and their lives.
The family; Matthew was a typical active boy with a love of Doctor Who and sport. He has three best friends at school (Emily, Luke & Gabriel) and is loved beyond all else by his parents Leigh and Sue. At age 10 Matthew started to develop episodes of headaches and nausea – it was being monitored by doctors but they didn’t have big concerns.
During a family holiday in Devon, Matthew suddenly struggled to walk – within 48 hours he was rushed into hospital for scans and emergency surgery to treat a brain tumour. After an operation to remove 90% of Matthew’s cancerous tumour; the family were given a positive prognosis by consultants. What then should have been the road to recovery soon became a relentless living nightmare!
When Matthew was transferred from intensive care back to the ward, his blood pressure became unstable resulting in two massive strokes and paralysis. Parents Leigh and Sue said “it felt like a lottery win when Matt could open one eye.” Fourteen months later Matthew was due his final chemo round and was finally given the greenlight to get home – but Sue and Leigh couldn’t make it happen. The community have come together to do their own DIS SOS inspired mission but it’s exhausted the communities resource’s.
Work needed; the house needs a downstairs extension with space for a carer to stay and all the bespoke care provision Matthew will need; physio space, wet room, social space and the ability to access the entire ground floor. If the Coopers don’t get this work done, they will have to stay at the hospital until alternative accommodation can be found for Matthew. This could mean the couple would have to return home without him – something they swore they would never do to him.
Wrockwardine Wood Junior School and the wider community managed to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds towards renovating the Cooper’s home for when Matthew is well enough to be discharged from hospital – and Matthew’s headteacher Julie Henry was the person in charge of leading the major fundraising campaign and applied for DIY SOS to come to transform their home.
As a business, we strive to help people in need – and we always look forward to helping DIY SOS and the families they work with. We are donating tiles to the Cooper’s, of which will be used to create the much needed brand new wet-room in the above mentioned downstairs extension. The completed project will be revealed on Thursday 9th March and we are really looking forward to welcoming the family back into their much loved home.
