Band of Builders completes home transformation in Newbury

The home transformation project, which was left unfinished for over a year, was initiated by Simon Taylor before he lost his sight.

Since having lost his sight, Mr Taylor cannot work as a landscaper and has had to close the business.

The work was completed by volunteers from the national charity Band of Builders (BoB), who spent three days painting and preparing the halls, stairs, and landing, as well as fitting new oak doors in all the upstairs rooms.

Band of Builders volunteers with Debi Hichens and Simon Taylor (Image: Band of Builders)

Debi Richens, Mr Taylor's fiancée, was moved to tears by the transformation and the dedication of the volunteers.

She said: "Our house looks amazing.

"I cannot thank the team from Band of Builders enough for their commitment and dedication, with some travelling through the floods to get here every day.

"The decoration of our house has always been something of a work in progress—especially as Simon was building up his landscaping business—but when he lost his sight, he lost his business, and we thought we’d never get the decorating finished."

Mr Taylor, who had previously run a thriving landscaping business, was left with only light perception in his right eye and 30 per cent vision in his left eye due to medical complications.

After a series of surgeries to rectify a macular hole and retinal detachments, he was left sight-impaired and unable to continue his business.

Despite this, Mr Taylor was equally touched by the volunteers' efforts.

He said: "The team of volunteers were fantastic, and their standard of work is second to none.

"But what is most humbling is that some of the volunteers had young families but gave up their time to help someone they’d never met.

"They are incredible."

The project marked the 40th completed by BoB, a charity that supports members of the UK construction industry and their families who are battling illness or injury.

The charity expressed its gratitude to local businesses and suppliers, including Bros Carpentry, Russell Interiors, Lick Paint Co, and Howdens.

Ben Russell, the project manager, described the experience as "humbling" and said: "I’ll never forget the looks on Simon and Debi’s faces when they saw the completed project.

"The team and I, including Kaisha, Scott, Dave S, and David W, were happy to give a bit of our time to do something for somebody else that meant the world to them."