Band of Builders (BoB) has announced the projects that it plans to deliver this year to help members of construction industry who are battling illness or injury.
The organisation is gearing up for at least five substantial projects, three of which require planning permission, in Suffolk, North Yorkshire, Cornwall, Surrey and South Wales.
Tony Steel, Band of Builders’ operations director, said: “It’s a heart-breaking process reading all of the applications that we receive from members of the construction industry and their families – who all desperately need help.
“We selected a number of projects that met our criteria and put them forward to the board of trustees, who have given us the go-ahead to plan and deliver five projects this year.”
The beneficiaries include a trainee bricklayer who suffered a catastrophic brain aneurysm; the eight-year-old son of a general builder who became quadriplegic after contracting meningococcal septicaemia; and a builders’ merchant employee who was left paralysed from the waist down after a spinal abscess, the charity explained.
BoB has already completed one project this year to level the ground floor and widen doorways at the Herefordshire home of Martin Wilks, a builder who was left paralysed after a fall.
Late last year, Band of Builders reached the £1m milestone for the equivalent cost of labour and materials that it had delivered through its projects. Reaching the £1m milestone involved 772 volunteers giving up their time for free on projects that took a total of 203 days and involved 18,087 hours of labour. Materials and support are provided by organisations and businesses across the sector, which support the charity on individual projects or through ongoing partnerships.
Gavin Crane, Band of Builders CEO, added: “The next wave of projects is a timely reminder of what Band of Builders was set up to do – and that’s make a massive difference to the lives of people from the construction industry who are facing life-changing circumstances.
“It makes me very proud that we continue to build a community of volunteers and supporters who are willing to support fellow members of the construction industry in their hour of need.”