Radbournes to the rescue!

When the BBC’s DIY SOS team came calling, as usual Radbournes were happy to help a worthy cause by donating materials.

Just 18 months ago, Chris Gibbons was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a debilitating condition that causes his muscles to weaken and limits his life expectancy. Among the most important things for parents Claire and Colin was that Chris would be able to go where he wanted in his own home, and not to be confined to a couple of downstairs rooms.

Chris already has to use a wheelchair, and to transform their house could have cost up to £200,000. Unfortunately, Claire and firefighter Colin were told the disabled facilities grant would not cover work to make their upstairs accessible.

Enter the DIY SOS Team, and in just nine days, with the help of hundreds of local tradesmen and the generosity of local businesses, they were able to make the house in Bartestree a home for the family of the seven-year-old. With 90 and 100 tradesmen on site every day, many working 12-hour days free of charge, the team completed a project that would ordinarily take up to four months.