BBC show looking for older people urgently needing house adaptations

The BBC programme DIY SOS: The Big Build is searching for older people, in desperate need of having their house adapted, so they can continue to live at home.

The programme, which stars Nick Knowles and a team of builders, specialises in helping ordinary people whose lives have been dramatically changed by the onset of a life altering illness or an accident leading to a disability.

The BBC is currently looking for an elderly couple who are being cared for away from home, because their house is unfit for their needs or a family who is desperate to look after a grandparent at home, but does not have the money to build a suitable extension.

It is also on the hunt for a family with a young adult in care because their house needs to be adapted with the necessary facilities before they can return home.

Researcher Steve Billingsley said: “The show helps people by radically transforming their homes. In the past we have put in downstairs wet rooms for people who can no longer get up to the bathroom.

“We have totally reworked entire houses so that they are wheel chair friendly. We have put up single and double story extensions to increase the living space for a family and have thus created healthy safe environments for young children and those with learning difficulties. We have added internal lifts, wheelchair ramps, specialist bathrooms and bedrooms to people’s homes.”

He added: “DIY SOS: The Big Build is not a makeover show, we do whole house transformations that can at times involve structural changes and planning permission. In just nine days the DIY SOS team manage to achieve what would normally take months. They do this by appealing to the local trades’ people who work for free with the DIY SOS team to complete the build.

“As well as bringing great benefits to the chosen families, the series will raise public awareness of the conditions and situations that affect them.

“Although we are inundated with applications through our website – we are currently looking for stories which specifically enable people to return home, or create an adapted home for multi-generational living.”

DIY SOS is only able to help people who are UK residents, who own their own home and do not have the funds to do the required work themselves. Anyone interested should contact steve.billingsley@bbc.co.uk with a brief outline of the situation and include a contact phone number.