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Charity gets 'record-breaking' support to help Norfolk boy

Charity gets 'record-breaking' support to help Norfolk boy

BBC News21-05-2025
A charity that supports construction workers and their families is about to embark on its next project to help a disabled boy, with a record amount of tradespeople offering to help.Band of Builders, based in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, will be helping Norfolk teenager Toby, 15, who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and dystonia. Renovation work to make Toby's home more suitable for his needs were started by his father, but he died on Christmas Eve. Dozens of trades have since put their names forward to help finish the work.Charity operations director Tony Steel praised the support being offered. "The more people we've got, the more we can guarantee to get this over the line," he said.
The charity was started by Addam Smith in 2016 after one of his workers was diagnosed with an incurable cancer. Since then it has helped many people with practical assistance such as providing home adaptations, financial grants and wellbeing support.
In its latest endeavour, the charity called for tradespeople to help with "Toby's project" in Foulden, near Swaffham.It said the boy's father, Shaun Fletcher - an electrician - was doing renovations on his home that included building a wet room, so the 15-year-old did not have to be carried up and down the stairs. Mr Steel added: "Unfortunately things became a little bit too much for him and he took his own life on Christmas Eve." He said the group's intention was to complete the work that was started.If you have been affected by the issues in this story, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.
The charity regularly uses social media to call for tradespeople to help with its builds, but the response to Toby's Project had been "absolutely incredible" and "record-breaking" with about 150 applicants, Mr Steel said."The people in Norfolk have just been absolutely stunning, really, and within two days we had something like 130 volunteers apply to come and give us a hand to make this project work."Without them we wouldn't be able to do these sorts of things."
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Bride left in shock after receiving HR complaint from colleague for leaving her out of her wedding
Bride left in shock after receiving HR complaint from colleague for leaving her out of her wedding

Daily Mail​

time32 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Bride left in shock after receiving HR complaint from colleague for leaving her out of her wedding

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Major roadworks begin at busy Lawnswood roundabout in Leeds
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Major roadworks begin at busy Lawnswood roundabout in Leeds

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King Charles' testy encounter with an award-winning gardener who he 'summoned to Highgrove'
King Charles' testy encounter with an award-winning gardener who he 'summoned to Highgrove'

Daily Mail​

time2 hours ago

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King Charles' testy encounter with an award-winning gardener who he 'summoned to Highgrove'

It is widely understood that Highgrove is Charles' pride and joy with the stately home becoming a sanctuary for the King and Queen. With his passion for nature, King Charles takes a particular interest in the award-winning garden which surrounds the estate. However, as the garden is so cherished by the King, his high standards have ruffled more than a few feathers among staff. Last month, reports emerged that low pay and staff shortages, coupled with the monarch's demanding attention to detail, had prompted an exodus of horticulturists employed to keep his Gloucestershire garden in good shape. Over the past three years, 11 of the 12-strong gardening team have quit, including the head gardener and his deputy. However, this is not the first time the tranquil green space has been at the centre of gardener-related drama. 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'"Grace and favour" took on a new meaning,' Bower wrote. 'To make up a floragim (a book of paintings of Highgrove's flowers), Charles recruited over 20 artists to paint two or three flowers each, for free. Similarly, he approached Jonathan Heale, a woodcut artist, for some of this work, which he expected to be donated as a gift.' 'One of the few artists known to have rebuffed similar demands was Lucian Freud. Would Freud swap one of his oils - which sold for millions of pounds - for one of Charles' watercolours? "I don't want one of your rotten paintings" Freud replied.' More recently, an investigation by the Sunday Times found that at one point in March 2022 half of the gardening team that were on the payroll were earning minimum wage, which is thought to have played a part in the exodus of staff. Charles' high interest in the upkeep of the garden is also thought to have played a part. 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The gardener also alleged he was shouted at and given a dressing down by Constantine Innemee, the executive director of Highgrove and one of the King's most trusted advisers, when he suggested to Charles that he would need a specialist member of staff if he wanted to cultivate his magnolias in a specific way. The grievance led to an external investigation by the King's Foundation, the charitable organisation that now runs the garden. Although that inquiry found evidence of 'staff shortages' and suggested pay be reviewed if it continued to be 'an issue for recruitment and retention' of staff, the complaint about Mr Innemee's management style was not upheld. The garden at Highgrove has been King Charles' pet project for the past 45 years. In an interview with his friend, gardener and broadcaster Alan Titchmarsh, Charles previously explained that he was attracted to buy the property in 1980 because of its 'blank canvas' garden. 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