The DIYSOS team are back in East Yorkshire this week – and our products are once again involved.
The Big Build BBC Children in Need Special will see the show’s team working with adventure playground engineer John O’Driscoll and local tradesmen and volunteers to create an “adventure camping site” for the Hull-based St Michael’s Youth Project, known locally as “St Mike’s”.
They have big plans to transform an empty two-and-a-half acre field with the aim of creating a facility that will improve the physical and emotional health and well-being of children and young people in Hull and the surrounding areas.
Our products, including toilets, troughs, taps and showers, will be used in the toilet and shower blocks and kitchen.
St Mike’s works with more than 500 children and young people who have little to no access to gardens or green spaces, and through their programme of support gives them the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of, and learn from, the natural world.
They organise a small number of camping trips and residential trips throughout the year at sites that are at least three hours away, which means that not all of the children they support are able to access them currently. Some also lack the confidence to be away from home overnight.
Jo Lorenz, project lead at St Michaels Youth Project, said: "A lot of the work we deliver is focussed on delivery in the outdoors, as we know the value this has on young people’s lives.
"The pandemic has been a difficult time for all of us and it has had a huge impact on many of the young people.
"We know how important it is for the children, young people and families that we work with to be able to enjoy the outdoors in a place where they feel safe, so we are over the moon that the DIY SOS team are going to transform this space into somewhere which will have such a huge impact on our community and for all of the children and young people of Hull.”