22-07-2025
'I'm happy to see DIY SOS team help my neighbour'
A woman who lives next door to the BBC's DIY SOS big build house has said while it can be difficult to move around with hundreds of people milling about on the street, getting a family back together "is what it's all about".Tradespeople, suppliers and volunteers are helping to transform the home of the Flemen family in Freckleton, Lancashire, so their 16 year-old-son Daniel can come has been in hospital in Manchester for nearly three years after a life-saving operation to remove a brain tumour left him severely disabled."It's so important to get Danny home," next door neighbour Dorothy Hodgetts said.
She said she is more than happy to put up with a week of inconvenience as she "just wants to help".So much so that her front garden has been taken over by a huge tent the volunteers are using to have a rest or get snacks and drinks."We actually had two weeks away, but that was pre-booked, it wasn't because I knew this was going to happen," she said. "But we came back last week and I've been helping on-site ever since."
Presenter Nick Knowles said the show's team were "looking at doing about eight months work in eight days" and looking to finish on Hodgetts said: "At the end of the day, what is a week of things going on and it being busy, and maybe not always easy to get about?"The family have got to get home and get Danny home and that's what it's all about."So the little bit of help we can do, we're more than happy to do it."Interior designer Gaby Blackman has said a record number of volunteers working at the site were "smashing it".
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