As the summer heat continues, so too does the growing number of new and ongoing projects at Sullivan’s Heroes.
The dry weather is providing the perfect opportunity to make great progress on the building works, with teams making the most of the favourable conditions across a range of adaptation projects.But we start with news of our largest project completed through Sullivan’s Heroes to date –with over £100,000 raised to provide ‘An Accessible Home for David’.
Thanks to the generosity and support of numerous people, this remarkable project has transformed the life of 7-year-old David, providing him with a home that meets his needs and offers greater comfort, independence and peace of mind.
David’s parents advise: “Our home simply did not meet David's needs as he was growing. We knew from an early age that we would need significant work done to create an inclusive family home. We love where we live and wanted to stay there, but changes were needed. The complexities of David's needs meant that it was highly unlikely that we would be able to move to somewhere that would be already adapted and meet all our family needs.”
“Our adaptations are life-changing! David is able to access his entire home with ease. We have had doors widened, three ceiling track hoists installed and a through the floor lift installed. David has the privacy he deserves with his own bedroom space but also with appropriate toileting and washing provision. For us, the biggest difference is that previous restrictions have been lifted and we have a family home that we can ALL access and enjoy.”
As one project closes … not one, but three more commence!
As new applicants have continued to join the charity, the families of three of these have wasted no time in launching their fundraising campaigns to cover their funding shortfalls, enabling adaptation works to get underway swiftly over the summer months.
The first of these is ‘Rosie's accessible bedroom and bathroom’, which will create a downstairs bedroom and accessible bathroom for 10-year-old Rosie in the current family living room – together with building a single storey extension at the back of the house as a new living room.
This will also create level access for Rosie into the back garden, which she can't currently get out to independently due to split levels and an inaccessible ramp. Disabled Facilities Grant and top-up funding has been awarded through the council, but costs of the works leave a shortfall of £40,000 to meet the cost of the works required.
As Rosie’s parents explain: “Our daughter Rosie is a lively and sociable 10-year-old girl. She was born with a very rare genetic syndrome, USP9X, which means she has faced a huge number of challenges in her life so far. Rosie needs her bedroom to be downstairs so she can access it more independently. At the moment she needs help to get upstairs using a stairlift.”
“Rosie's new bedroom will have plenty of space for a growing young woman and her bathroom will have a wash and dry toilet to help increase her independence, a height-adaptable sink with taps she will be able to use herself, and – the best bit – a fully accessible bath with a seat to lift her in and out safely. Anything we can raise towards that will be hugely appreciated.”
Work has already commenced on Rosie's project, with the conservatory now removed and the foundations for the new living room being laid. Meanwhile, flooring for Rosie's bedroom extension under construction has been funded through a generous grant from the Florence Nightingale Aid in Sickness Trust.
The second young lady we introduce is Darcie – for which ‘Darcies adaptions’ project will extend the family home to provide a bedroom and wetroom with specialist bath and changing stretcher, together with restructuring the house for wheelchair access throughout and into the garden for Darcie.
As Darcie’s parents explain: “Our Darcie is one in a million. She has been through a lot of struggles with her health over the years, starting before she was even born. Darcie is now 7 and life hasn’t been easy for her but she is always smiling and laughing. With Darcie getting older we want her to reach her full potential and promote as much independence as possible. We are so thankful Darcie is with us. She’s a true fighter and deserves a safe space at home with her family.”
“We want to give Darcie the best life we can, but our home isn’t suitable for Darcie as a wheelchair user – as she’s getting bigger it’s really difficult to manage safely. The adaptions will be life changing for both Darcie and us, and will make Darcie’s quality of life at home safer and easier to manage. Any help towards completing the work for Darcie would be is really appreciated by us all!”
Friends, family and the local community have been working hard to raise the £7,000 shortfall to meet the cost of the works required, enabling work on the extension and restructuring of the family home to now get underway to better meet Darcie's needs. One recent supporter of the fundraising activities was Belfast International Airport.
Whilst the new ‘West Yorkshire Project’ involves constructing a purpose-built, ground-floor bedroom and a specialised sensory room extension to provide a safe, accessible and therapeutic environment for the daily care and development of a young boy who has complex physical and sensory needs.
The £8,000 shortfall above the local authority funding awarded is well on its way to being funded, allowing the building works to start in the fine weather. As this video shows, great progress has been made – and all in only a few short weeks!
Other projects are taking shape too – with ‘Penny’s bedroom padding and window’ now having reached their £20,500 fundraising target, allowing for the extension and restructure of the family home to provide level access, a padded bedroom and wetroom with changing bed for Penny, plus safety adaptations to the windows in Penny’s bedroom and the lounge to prevent climbing and serious injury.
‘Time for Thomas Wet room and Bedroom’ has benefitted from generous support from Enterprise Mobility in partnership with Easibathe towards the £60,000 needed to reconfigure the family home, to create accessible ground-floor living space along with a bedroom and wet room extension for 15-year-old Thomas.
Two of the projects which had commenced in our last news update have also sped through their builds in the summer warmth.
‘Tilly's independence at home’ is almost secured with her wet room and bedroom extension on the back of the family home, together with level access to the garden for the teenager.
Whilst ‘Noah's independence and dignity’ is also nearer instigation with the creation of a wheelchair accessible ground floor, including downstairs bedroom and wetroom, plus garden access for 10-year-old Noah.
'A Haven for Nathan' has seen an intrepid supporter raising funds for the over £100,000 needed to adapt Nathan's home. Fred will not only be participating in a mammoth 100K South Downs Trek on 5th September, but has also undertaken a gruelling 600km of training for the event – in a bid to meet his £10,000 target for the event.
Nathan’s project involves building a 2-storey extension to the existing family home to provide living space for 14-year-old Nathan, with a hoisting system and space for use of mobility equipment and storage of personal care products; together with optimising bedroom and bathroom areas to provide safe sleeping, mobility and hygiene facilities plus creating space and access for use of a through-floor lift.
Please do get in touch if you have any fundraising events, activities and ideas you’d like to share with us; or if you would like to apply for a grant or to fundraise through Sullivan’s Heroes.
Thank you for your ongoing support, it is greatly appreciated.
