Teams from McDermotts and Balfour Beatty answered the call from the BBC’s DIY SOS to help out with a project to transform a dead space of land in Fegg Hayes into a community garden.
The volunteers were part of the crew currently working on the Etruria Valley Link Road in Stoke-on-Trent. With limited time to complete the build itself, pre-work and ground preparation was required.
Posting on Twitter, project designed Sian Astley said “The DIYSOS team quite literally could not have started this build without the work you did @balfourbeatty and @weareMcDermotts – astounding effort and so much appreciated – thank you from all of us.”
The build itself turned into a battle against the elements, as, thanks to Storms Dudley and Eunice, wind, rain and snow made the job so much harder and overrun. At times it looked like the build might not be possible at all.
Presenter Nick Knowles Tweeted “I’d just like to make clear to everyone all credit and praise should go to the tradesmen and women, volunteers and incredibly generous suppliers of Fegg Hayes and Stoke and wider afield that made this @DIYSOS possible. Their indomitable spirit through the worst storms was epic.”
The completed project has provided a space for the community of Fegg Hayes. Thanks to DIY SOS, they now have a community centre and garden, with space to grow vegetables. It also includes a state-of-the-art kitchen to help with food poverty and a tool shed to give men in the community somewhere to go to break isolation