Drainage engineers from Lanes Group have joined TV’s DIY SOS team to help transform a couple’s home so their disabled son could return to live in it for the first time in three years.
A CCTV drainage team from the company’s Preston depot carried out the all-important sewer pipe survey at the house in Freckleton, Lancashire, which was essential to allow work to begin.
Along with many other engineering and construction companies, Lanes Group gave its expertise and time free-of-charge to help teenage Daniel Flemen be reunited with his family.
He had been living in hospital in Manchester for nearly three years after a life-saving operation to remove a brain tumour left him severely disabled.
In an eight-day project, described as one of the most ambitious the BBC’s DIY SOS team had attempted, the Flemen family home was completely transformed, specifically in line with Daniel’s needs.
Area Development Manager Vicky Smith and Work Coordinator Megan Nickalls, both based at Lanes Group’s Preston depot, joined other trades professionals to witness the family seeing their renovated home for the first time.
Vicky Smith said:
“It was so moving. Everyone was very emotional. It was wonderful that our team at Lanes Group could help in a small way.
“Many other companies did more than us, but the CCTV drainage survey had to be carried out before building work could begin. So we did our bit to bring the family back together under one roof.”
Megan Nickalls had a particular reason to be pleased for Daniel and his family.
From the age of 12 to 20 she had been a volunteer or paid worker at the Rainbow Hub in Mawdesley, Lancashire, which supports disabled children and their families.
She said: “I’ve grown up surrounded by children with disabilities. I know how hard families have to fight, sometimes without success, to get the adaptations they need for their homes.
“So, to see Daniel being able to return home, and to have played a part in helping that happen, is something we, as a Lanes Group depot, can be really proud of and will remember for a long time.”
The drainage survey was carried out by CCTV drainage survey engineer Gareth Tuson and his assistant, Luke Bell.
Their discovery of a mains sewer running beneath the property was critical to allowing the DIY SOS team to assess how to adapt the family home.
Gareth explained:
“We treated it like any other job. Arrived on time, got our PPE on, introduced ourselves to the customer and got on with the survey,”
“But the outcome of our work is very special. It’s a little win for me and Luke, but a huge one for Daniel and his family. We’re so pleased for them.”
The transformation of the Flemen family home will be shown in a programme at a later date.
It is just one of the latest amazing projects completed by the DIY SOS team, which has been led by presenter Nick Knowles since the programme first aired in 1999.
Over 32 series and 243 episodes, DIY SOS has encouraged design, engineering, and construction specialists to give their time, expertise and resources to greatly improve the lives of many hundreds of people up and down the UK.