Add
Private Notes
Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team take a trip down memory lane, recalling some of their best renovations, stories, and the funniest moments over the last 10 years. Did DIY SOS truly change people's lives for the better? Join Nick and the team in between jobs on this unique journey through the DIY SOS archives.
What do Nick and the DIY SOS team do in their week off? Join them in between jobs and find out as they show more of their favourite stories from the past ten years. Including the highs, the lows and the funnies.
Nick Knowles and the team face their biggest challenge yet in this DIY SOS Flood special. Since the June floods, there are still many families still trying to renovate their houses back to liveable condition. The team head to Toll Bar, near Doncaster, and take on a foster family's house which found itself deep in water. Plus, they renovate the local club to provide a much-needed space for the people of Toll Bar.
Nick Knowles and the team attempt to re-house a family who have spent years in a caravan.
The team transforms the life of a family who have spent years living in a building site.
Nick Knowles recruits extra help to renovate a whole house, making it a home.
The team transforms an ex-council house in the Welsh Valleys into a family home.
Nick Knowles and the team face their biggest challenge yet in this DIY SOS Flood special. Since the June floods, there are still many families still trying to renovate their houses back to liveable condition. The team head to Toll Bar, near Doncaster, and take on a foster family's house which found itself deep in water. Plus, they renovate the local club to provide a much-needed space for the people of Toll Bar.
Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team take a trip down memory lane, recalling some of their best renovations, stories, and the funniest moments over the last 10 years. Did DIY SOS truly change people's lives for the better? Join Nick and the team in between jobs on this unique journey through the DIY SOS archives.
What do Nick and the DIY SOS team do in their week off? Join them in between jobs and find out as they show more of their favourite stories from the past ten years. Including the highs, the lows and the funnies.
Nick Knowles and the team attempt to re-house a family who have spent years in a caravan.
The team travels to Liverpool to completely refurbish Norris Green Youth Centre. The money Children in Need already give to this centre helps it provide activities for young people with few other options. But the building is falling down around them, and without the youth centre the youngsters will have nowhere else to go outside school.
Nick Knowles and the team are joined by guest designer Charlie Luxton. They join forces to enlist the help of the local community in Stoke and renovate a home for a family battling terminal illness. Dad Haydn Spice was diagnosed with abdominal cancer shortly after buying a derelict house at auction in 2004. Haydn's ill health meant that he couldn't work on the house, and his family have been left living in a building site. He and his wife and three daughters are all sleeping in one bedroom and trying to make the best of the time Haydn has left. Nick and the team head to the Midlands to rally friends, family and local trades to help turn the Spice family's derelict house into a comfortable home.
Nick Knowles and DIY SOS team head to Peterborough for their most ambitious build ever. They have just 9 days to build a new centre from scratch for Little Miracles a charity that helps children with additional needs and life limiting conditions. The building is massive on top of which Nick and the boys also have to landscape two-and-a-half acres of grounds. Help comes from across the country to achieve an incredible legacy.
Nick Knowles and the team undertake their biggest and longest build yet, constructing two buildings for the Grenfell community over several months to create spaces worth around £2million. With the aid of large construction companies, generous suppliers, volunteers and the Duke of Cambridge - who visits the site - the team starts by building a new home for the Dale Youth Boxing Club. The club started the careers of James DeGale, who won an Olympic gold medal in Beijing 10 years ago, and George Groves, current WBA Super Middleweight champion, as well as producing many national champions.
Nick Knowles and the team attempt to build a two storey flexible use centre, which can be used by the local community however it decides. The team are joined by the Duke of Cambridge, who meets local residents and talks to firefighters who were amongst the first responders on the night of the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower.
Nick Knowles hits the road to catch up with some of the inspirational people and communities the show has helped in its 20-year history. On his travels across the length and breadth of the country, Nick returns to some of the series' biggest and most challenging builds, including Canada Street in Manchester, The Yard in Edinburgh, and DIY SOS's most logistically-difficult and longest build - the construction of the Grenfell Community Centre and Dale Youth Boxing club.
In this special Children in Need edition of the show, Nick Knowles and the team come to the aid of young people who are often overlooked and very much in need of help. A team of experts and volunteers come together to help transform an old church into a new accommodation facility for six young homeless people in Blackburn, ran by local charity Nightsafe.
Prepare for spadefuls of community spirit, bucket loads of tear-jerking moments and the chance to witness Nick Knowles in a wet suit. It’s surf’s up when DIY SOS descends on Caswell Bay, South Wales, to build a stunning surf centre for the BBC Children in Need funded charity, Surfability - the country’s first fully-inclusive surf school, who teach disabled children and young people the joy of surfing. While the DIY team and hundreds of local trades and volunteers build a state of the art surf centre, Nick and designer Gaby meet disabled youngsters, whose lives have been profoundly affected by lockdown restrictions, who get to experience the unadulterated joy of surfing for the first time.
The DIY SOS team are joined by guest presenter Rhod Gilbert in Brandesburton, near Hull, as they transform an overgrown site into a purpose-built adventure campsite.
The DIY SOS team joins forces with Radio 2 for a Children in Need mega build in Leeds.
DIY SOS and Strictly partner up to bring some sparkle to an inclusive performing arts charity in Wallsend, transforming a derelict sports club into a creative home for their young people.
In this Children in Need Special, the DIY SOS team joins forces with Radio 2. Their mission is to transform a derelict site into a safe base for a young women’s charity in Leeds.
In a heart-warming episode for Christmas, DIY SOS partner with the stars of EastEnders to bring volunteers together to support a mental health community project in Harlow, Essex.
Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team help Wayne and Susan, a couple in Bradford, move out of their boat into a house.
Nick Knowles and the team's first mission is in Cardiff, where a couple's lounge is virtually uninhabitable. Meanwhile new recruit Kate Mclntyre introduces three DIY challenged families hoping to win the viewers' sympathy.
Stratford-upon-Avon throws up some unfinished loft bedrooms for Nick Knowles. Plus, Kate Mcintyre has three more household catastrophes vying for the viewers' vote.
The team havejust four days to build a kitchen from scratch in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. But with all their sneaky trips to a nearby health spa, will they finish on time?
Nick Knowles and the home-improvement healers call on a Pembrokeshire family who still haven't completed a renovation they started 25 years ago, and Kate Mclntyre meets three more Dl Yers hoping to win viewers' sympathy.
Thomas Christy's attempts to transform a disused shop into a home have left the place in danger of collapsing. And with a baby on the way, his wife Rachel's patience is wearing thin. Enter Nick and the team to put things right.
When Daniel Carty , a construction consultant, began work on converting a former railway cottage in Surrey into a modern home, his wife had every faith in him. But many busy weekends have passed, baby Bradley has arrived and the lounge/diner has yet to be started. Cue Nick and the team.
Nick Knowles and the team have just four days to build a handmade kitchen from scratch for DIY-challenged Debbie Robins in Cheltenham. With Kate Mclntyre.
In Derby, the team assist on a project to restore a Victorian terraced house - at one time divided into bedsits to its former glory.
Assist decorating tutor Ian renovate his new home
Revamp the bedroom of 14-year-old Andrew, son of widowed Maggie
Renovate the kitchen of recent divorcee Chris, who is hampered by a back injury
Create a bedroom for widow Susie, who has been sharing her 14 year old daughters bedroom for a decade.
Complete David and Sara's self-build home, a project hampered by planning issues, builder walkouts and money troubles
Nick Knowles and the team visit the Glasgow home of Margaret and her extended family. They help to speed up a loft conversion.
Complete Lesley and Mark's open plan living area in Torquay. A beautiful kitchen transformation using plain white units, topped with a spectacular dark granite surface.
Complete a bedroom loft conversion for the son of an oil rig worker in Fleetwood.
Rescue Angela and Steve's living room, left with a sagging ceiling and collapsed chimney breast by builder Steve's own efforts
Rescue Laurence's self-build project, begun 20 years ago but recently struck by fire.
Finish a lounge in a couple's new home.
Complete the conversion of Keith and Torsten's three storey house from bedsits back into one single home.
Finish French expat Odile's kitchen
In dire need of TLC, a community centre in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, gets a visit from Nick Knowles and the team. The centre has a great football team, but the clubhouse is in such a state that they're reluctant to invite other teams to play. We also meet families pleading for the show's help.
Two-year-old Mia Phillips from Pembrokeshire suffers from cystic fibrosis. She needs constant care, and as a result her bedroom is crammed full of daunting medical paraphernalia. Parents Merrilee and Chris want to build a separate play area for their daughter. Cue Nick Knowles and his team of trusty workmen.
An incomplete extension means that Elsie and Duncan Pinches have put up with a kitchen lacking any natural daylight for 13 years. Nick Knowles and the team set to work on bringing a ray of sunshine into that dingy space. At the same time, they treat the couple to a dazzling new country-style kitchen.
Faced with a pricey housing market, Kate and Craig settled for a property that hadn't been worked on since the 1930s. It turned out to be a money pit, and with the couple's savings gone, work ground to a halt. Enter Nick Knowles and the team to transform a tired lounge-diner into a modern space with an art deco twist. But will it suit a potential new arrival?
Daniel and Eve Luke bought a big old house divided into flats with the plan of converting it back into a beautiful home for their family. A year later the house still has no proper bathroom. Can Nick Knowles and the team realise Eve's dream of a hot bath?
With five kids, single mum Sarah has no time for DIY, but her family desperately needs a dining area. Cue Nick Knowles with an African-themed design.
A kitchen needs to be fitted in a week at a house in Tisbury, Wiltshire for a stressed-out couple.
The team enlist the help of the Navy to turn an empty shell of a building into an indoor education centre at Bath City Farm. With Nick Knowles.
Home improvement mishaps remedied by Nick Knowles. The team are in Rushden to help rescue the Wiggett family who are stuck in a vicious DIY circle.
Home improvement mishaps remedied by Nick Knowles. The team are on a mission in Eastbourne to help rescue Kim Dack, a teacher and single mother-of-three.
Home improvement mishaps remedied by Nick Knowles. The team are in Bolsover to help a couple convert a difficult loft space into a room for their young son.
Home improvement mishaps remedied by Nick Knowles. The team help Vanessa Ronson, as the kitchen in her Victorian house in Cleethorpes currently resembles a building site.
Home improvement mishaps remedied by Nick Knowles and co. The team visit Gloucester to help rescue 16-year-old Amy and 12-year-old Nick from their mum's hapless attempts at DIY.
Home improvement mishaps remedied by Nick Knowles and co. The team visit Yarm, where they give a helping hand with an unfinished bathroom to Shahzad and Waheeda Ismail.
Home improvement mishaps remedied by Nick Knowles. The team visit Norfolk to help Carl and Michelle Moorhouse convert a garage into an ideal room for their six-year-old son.
Home improvement mishaps remedied by Nick Knowles and co. The team visit a young family in Warrington and help them with their home improvement problems.
Home improvement problems remedied by Nick Knowles. The team help Angie and Paul Bowles create a county-style lounge down on their farm in South Wales.
The team visit Ipswich to help Jason and Toni Meekings, who have been transforming their three-bed house into something bigger.
In this edition they are on a mission in Fishguard to help a worn out Mum and Dad of quadruplets renovate her bedroom and en-suite bathroom so she can have the occasional half hour to remind herself that she is still human.
The team are in Swindon to try and turn Michelle Lovell's life around by finishing the renovation of her lounge.
The team are in Crawley to help brothers Daniel and Adam renovate their kitchen/diner.
Nick Knowles and the building team are in Navenby to help Maaike Zaan and John Heather complete the renovation to their disused telephone exchange.
The team are in Grays, Essex to help busy paramedic Tina Freear renovate her lounge/dining room.
The team is in Manchester to help remedy the DIY disaster created by Kevin Vaughton after he tried to enlarge his kitchen.
The team are in Pembroke Dock to help supersize a tiny family bathroom.
The team are in in Clevedon to help transform an extension into a funky lounge.
Nick Knowles and the team save a family from their bare brick lounge.
The team travel to Ipswich to help a single mother-of-two out of her DIY disaster.
Nick Knowles and the team are in Liverpool to renovate a garage into a child's playroom.
Nick Knowles and his team help the Erasmus family from Nottingham complete their kitchen.
Nick Knowles and his team help the Erasmus family from Nottingham complete their kitchen.
Nick Knowles and the team help a couple in Rossendale, Lancashire.
Do-it-yourself challenges. Nick Knowles and the team are in Chelmsford to give Karen and her family the kitchen of their dreams.
Create a Victorian reception room for Sharon and Steve so they can renew their wedding vows in it.
Complete a bathroom extension for Mark and Vicky, made necessary by their eight-year-old son's brain tumour which has confined him to a wheelchair; they had begun the work themselves, but a flood caused by a burst water pipe set the project back.
Completion of a children's bedroom and play area for the Harris family; the project having been begun by the family themselves, but was set back after a leaking sewer flooded the house.
Finish an open-plan kitchen-diner for the Harris family, made necessary by their youngest daughter's medical condition which means she cannot be left unattended; the family had begun the project themselves, but work had not progressed beyond knowing down the dividing wall.
Convert a bachelor's river boat into a more suitable family friendly environment, allowing his girlfriend who lives two hours away to move in.
Complete the conversion of a garage into a kitchen for Paul and Pauline, made necessary by their growing family, now numbering six children including a daughter with Down's syndrome and twins with learning difficulties; they had begun the project themselves, but ran out of money.
In Essex, the Taylors need to turn their garage into a wheelchair-friendly downstairs bathroom for window cleaner Kerry following an accident.
In Romford, the Morris family want to turn their loft into a space that will give Sharon's autistic 17-year-old son some independence.
The team is in Bridgwater to help the Robinson family.
The team is in Frimley in Camberley to help the Oxford family.
The team are in Oxford to help complete a bungalow extension for the Barker family.
Nick Knowles and the team are in Bradford to renovate a lounge for Emma and her son Thomas.
Nick Knowles and the builders tackle a wreck of a house in Caersws, Wales.
Nick Knowles and the team are called to the rescue of the Curry family in Halstead.
Nick Knowles and the team are in Watford to renovate a kitchen and dining area for a family that needs it to be medically clean. Lucy and husband Mario bought a rundown house that they hoped to renovate into their dream home, but everything changed when their daughter was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The renovation is now on hold, but the need for a clean living space is greater than ever.
Nick Knowles and the team head to Leamington Spa to help out single parent Kate. Left in a building site by builders her unfinished extension means she's bringing up three children with no heating, no hot water and lots of brick dust.
This time they help the Howard family from Kent, who live in a Victorian cottage which has been in the family for generations and has barely changed since it was built. The family's attempt at transforming their kitchen and sitting room have ended in disaster, and the team are drafted in to sort out the mess and create two stunning new rooms for a deserving family.
The team find themselves in Kingston-Upon-Thames with grandparents Ray and Linda. The couple have spent the last nine years bringing up their grandchildren after their mother sadly passed away. Twins Nathan and Chelsea, who are now both 14, have grown out of their toy room.
The team visit Edmonton, North London, to help the Parenti family. They undertook extension and renovation work on their house four years ago, but a falling out with the builder forced dad Stephen to step in and do it himself, with semi-disastrous consequences.
The team visit Liz and Neil Capper, who live in a beautiful little cottage in Norfolk. It was always Neil who did the DIY and the tough jobs around the house but following several back operations he has been reduced to walking with crutches and can no longer do those difficult tasks.
Compilation programme built around a day in the life of Nick Knowles. We revisit two of the great shows from the last series and see how the families are doing today. There is also the usual high quality funnies, Billy explores his talents with the English language, we learn how Julia became one of the lads and we get to go behind the scenes and witness what happens when the cameras aren't rolling.
The team travel to Chesterfield to help Lisa and Richard Watson and their young family.
The team travel to Wales to help a widower and his young daughter complete their new home.
The team help adapt a home for a sportsman with motor neurone disease.
The team head for the Scottish countryside to repair a rundown cottage.
Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team come to the aid of a family in Dudley.
Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team travel to Duxford near Cambridge.
The team go to Huntingdon to transform a house into a home for Julie's supersized family.
Building an extension to meet the needs of their growing family seemed a straightforward proposition for Neil and Rebecca Smith. But then Neil was made redundant and the couple's youngest child began to display signs of autism. Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team enlist the aid of the local community to rescue this family. They have just ten days to complete the build.
Hanna and Mike have three kids, two of whom are twins who were born prematurely. One has cerebral palsy and the other is profoundly deaf. The family house is tiny and the cramped conditions are making life extremely difficult and at times dangerous for the growing boys. Nick Knowles and DIY SOS team call on friends, family and the local community to come to the aid of this young family and build a single storey extension in just nine days.
After 20 years serving his country, royal engineer and paratrooper Mo Morris was given a medical discharge due to prolonged and continuous damage to his knees. He has been left struggling to walk unaided, and suffers near-constant pain. He is trapped in his home, which is totally unsuitable to his needs, but help is at hand - Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team rally the troops of the local community and together they adapt the house, give Mo back his independence and take the pressure off the whole family.
Nick Knowles and team head to Halifax to help a family whose eight-year-old son Josh is paralysed and can only access two rooms in the house. The family home needs a major overhaul and as usual the DIY SOS Team helped by an army of local trades men and women have just nine days to pull it off.
Paul Making's wife died shortly after she gave birth to their sixth child. He has been valiantly holding the family together while they grieve but is up against it- he lives in a two bedroom house he had started to extend and has been forced to sleep on the sofa. Nick Knowles, the DIY SOS team and over 100 local builders taken on their biggest home build ever to help this family rebuild their lives. If that wasn't enough, they have to battle against a blizzard to get the job done in nine days. Show less
Rebecca and Steve's life was turned upside down when they conceived triplets. Two years on, the gruelling pace of everyday life, coupled with a small, damp and dilapidated house, is causing Rebecca to become depressed. The house is unsafe and unsuitable for this young family; Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team galvanise the local trades and community to step in and give them a home fit for this family in just nine days.
Eight-year-old Dakota was born with quadriplegic cerebral palsy and has a life expectancy of just 15 years. She desperately needs changes to her home to give her increased mobility which, in turn, will increase her life expectancy. Nick and the DIY SOS team and an army of local trades brave sub-zero temperatures to rebuild her home in just nine days.
Michelle and Rod's six-year-old daughter Maddie has a rare brain disease which has left her struggling to walk and talk. The Malones have spent the last two years adapting their home so that it works for Maddie's condition but unforeseen problems with the build have left them living in just a couple of rooms in a house that is unsafe. Nick and the boys are joined by flamboyant designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and an army of local trades who come together to finish off the house.
Four years ago, June Finlay suffered a brain infection which has left her unable to walk and talk and totally dependent on her devoted husband John. Since then she has been sleeping on a hospital bed in the kitchen with no washing or toilet facilities. Nick and the DIY SOS team are helped by designer Oliver Heath and an army of local trades to extend the house.
Rob and Michelle Wall bought a small 18th-century house as a renovation project, but had to stop work when their son Noah was born with spina bifida and only two per cent of his brain. The house is unfinished, cold, unsafe and not suitable for Noah's needs. Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team call on the local community and Charlie Luxton to help turn this house into a home for an amazing little boy.
In February 2012, firefighter Colin Gibbons and his wife Clare had their world fall apart when their eldest son Christopher was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most common and one of the most severe forms of the condition. They have a lovely house but it must be adapted to meet Christopher's needs, both now and in the future. Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS boys are reunited with designer Julia Kendall to make a two-storey extension with the help of the local community.
Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team head to Warrington to help one of their own. Electrician Dave McCartney was a healthy and happily married man with two daughters. He suffered a massive stroke while at work, which has left him partially paralysed and forcing him to sleep in a hospital bed in the kitchen. Dave's old work mates and the local community come together with sleep in a hospital bed in the kitchen. Dave's old work mates and the local community come together with Charlie Luxton and the DIY SOS boys to adapt the house.
A motorcycle accident left hospital worker Jason Sulong visually impaired, paralysed down one side and with limited speech. He can't get up the stairs in his home so is now trapped downstairs with no toilet or washing facilities. Jason's wife Effie is a cardiac nurse and is struggling to look after Jason and their two kids whilst also being the main breadwinner. Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team call on the local community to help Effie and give Jason back his dignity. They have just nine days to complete the build.
Nine-year-old Brandon has an extreme form of epilepsy. He has between 20 and 30 seizures a day and requires 24-hour care. His mum, Jenny Lowther, can't let him out of her sight for even a moment. The house is not safe for Brandon, who might have a seizure at any time and without warning, so Nick and the DIY boys, aided by designer Naomi Cleaver and a whole host of Essex trades, descend on the house to make it into a wonderful home for Jenny, Brandon and the whole family.
In February 2012, firefighter Colin Gibbons and his wife Clare had their world fall apart when their eldest son Christopher was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the most common and one of the most severe forms of the condition. They have a lovely house but it must be adapted to meet Christopher's needs, both now and in the future. Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS boys are reunited with designer Julia Kendall to make a two-storey extension with the help of the local community.
Nick and the team are in Warrington to help electrician Dave McCartney who suffered a massive stroke while at work and has been left partially paralysed and has no choice but to sleep in a hospital bed in the kitchen.
Jason Sulong was left visually impaired and was paralysed on one side with limited speech. He cannot get access to most parts of his home. His wife, Effie is a cardiac nurse and is struggling to take care of Jason. The DIY SOS team are called to give a helping hand with renovations.
Nine-year-old Brandon has an extreme form of epilepsy. He has between 20 and 30 seizures a day and requires 24-hour care. His mum, Jenny Lowther, can't let him out of her sight for even a moment. The house is not safe for Brandon, who might have a seizure at any time and without warning, so Nick and the DIY boys, aided by designer Naomi Cleaver and a whole host of Essex trades, descend on the house to make it into a wonderful home for Jenny, Brandon and the whole family.
Fifteen-year-old Jack Morris was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy, which has led to a lifetime of painful operations. His mother Helen has always been his rock and his elder brother Daniel his best friend. But as Jack grows into a man, it has been impossible for Helen to get him upstairs and he is forced to sleep in the living room of their small three-bedroom semi in Swansea. With no other social space in the house, Daniel rarely brings his mates round and they spend less time together as a family. So Nick and the boys, with designer Gabrielle Blackman, take on the challenge of turning the house into somewhere for Jack to grow into a man with dignity, a place to give Helen sanctuary and to reunite two amazing brothers.
Scott Russell and Jenny Watts got together when they were 16-years-old. Twenty-two years and three boys later, they are now a family of five. Charlie, their third son, was born with severe disabilities - spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and global developmental delay. He needs around-the-clock care, which Jenny has given up work to provide. Since he was born 13 years ago, they have struggled in a two-up, two-down end-of-terrace home, and Charlie faces going into care because they simply cannot keep him at home. Carrying him upstairs is a daily battle, and the older boys, Danny and Bradley, are crammed into tiny converted attic rooms. In the biggest build ever on an individual house, Nick, the boys and Naomi Cleaver rebuild the whole of the downstairs as well as remodelling the rest of the house to provide a more suitable home to bring Charlie up in and keep him at home with his family.
In April 2012, 35-year-old Mark Burrows had retrained to follow in his father's footsteps as a scaffolder. Then, during an unprovoked attack, he fell and hit his head on the pavement, resulting in severe brain damage and paralysis. Now unable to walk, talk or feed himself, he requires 24-hour care, something his parents Frank and Christine are desperate to give him, rather than him being in a care home 15 miles away. With the help of flamboyant designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Nick and the boys take on the task of building a self-contained apartment alongside Frank and Christine's two-bedroom bungalow so that after two years away, Mark can at last come home.
Nick Knowles comes to the aid of Liz and Jason Liversidge, a Hull couple in desperate need of help in future-proofing their family home. Not long after getting married and starting a family, Jason was diagnosed with both Fabrys disease, which causes a build-up of poisonous toxins in the body, and Motor Neurone Disease, which drastically reduced his life expectancy. The pair also discovered that Jason would have passed Fabrys disease on to his two daughters, which means that once her husband is gone, Liz will need all the help she can get in managing her children's condition. Nick joins forces with designer Oliver Heath and an army of volunteers to put together a home in which Jason can build meaningful memories with his girls, but one which also gives Liz the best chance of providing for their future needs.
Identical twins Katie and Emelia were born with achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism. At just 41, dad Mark is recovering from aggressive bowel and liver cancer. The family are struggling for space and in desperate need of some good luck. Thankfully, the DIY SOS team are on hand to help build them a home for a better future.
Paramedics Sam and Ben Laws spend their days helping people. With two children to look after, one with special needs, they work opposite shifts, often not seeing each other for days on end. While they have done everything they can as a family to make life better, the challenges of living in a totally inadequate home have been overwhelming. Reluctant to ask for help, they had to be nominated by a close friend for Nick, the boys and designer Oliver Heath to transform their house from the prison it has become into a stunning home that could offer five-year-old Ewan the best hope for the future.
Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team are back for a two-part special with their most ambitious build ever, and this time they are joined by two special royal helpers. The team are taking on a whole street in Manchester and turning run-down empty properties into homes for veterans. The team rally the local community to get stuck in and are also helped by Prince William and Prince Harry, who volunteer on site. In this show, the trades come together to build homes for two former soldiers who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and are suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), before also helping them to find new careers in the building trade. But with numbers of volunteers lower than what's needed and the buildings proving trickier than anticipated, it's turning into the toughest build yet.
In the second episode of a two-part special, Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team continue with their most ambitious build ever - an attempt to regenerate a rundown community in Manchester. The team are aiming to transform an entire street, turning empty properties into homes for war veterans and building a support centre to help other veterans find homes and jobs. The plan is to redo the fronts of all the houses and put in new utilities - but with late nights and delays, it is looking like the team might not meet their deadlines.
The team transform a family's house in order to assist Richard's recovery, after suffering a brain stem stroke, and build a new family home. Ten years ago Richard and Jude Ford met while working for the police. They married and started a family and now have three sons, nine-year-old Harry, seven-year-old Oscar and Archie who is four. Richard was a keen athlete and coached his sons' football club, but in June 2012, two weeks after running the Edinburgh Marathon, he suffered a devastating brain stem stroke and he was put into an induced coma. For 9 months he suffered from locked-in syndrome, meaning he was aware of everything that was going on around him but could not move or communicate. He's no longer locked in but Richard has limited movement and speech and is confined to an electric wheelchair, communicating via an iPad. Since his return home, the family have had to convert the children's playroom into a bedroom for Richard. He has no choice but to use a commode chair to go to the toilet, sometimes in full sight of his family. Tragically, though his body no longer works, Richard's mind is unaffected, so he is fully aware of his situation. He has very little privacy or independence. With the aid of his iPad voice simulator he tells us 'all I want is to be a husband and a father again'. Reluctant to ask for help, Nick, his team and designer Charlie Luxton transform the Ford's house in order to assist Richard's recovery and build a new family home.
The DIY SOS team is back and in Birmingham helping a family in need. Charlotte and Chris have twins who were born prematurely and have a condition known as global development delay. It is a condition which has slowed down their progress of walking and talking. Their cramped house is hindering their progress even more, and if they have any chance of catching up, they're going to need DIY SOS and a host of volunteers from the local community to rebuild their lives and give the family a better future.
Nick Knowles travels to Hopesay, Shropshire to meet ex-fireman Joe and his seven-year-old daughter Lucy. Joe lost his wife Jess suddenly in 2014, partway through renovating an old cottage into what they had hoped would be a dream family home. Now work has ground to a halt and Joe and his daughter are living in a tiny caravan in the garden. Having heard of their plight, the DIY SOS team arrives to give them the home Jess had wanted for them, backed up by an army of local tradespeople.
The team are in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, to help 17-year-old disabled athlete Scott Jones achieve his dream of going to Tokyo 2020.
Rachel and Andy Smith's middle child Isaac has spastic quadriplegia, a severe form of cerebral palsy and Andy or Rachel must be available at all times to care for him because he sleeps fitfully in a hospital bed in the family living room. It's making family life stressful including for Isaac's siblings as the design of their home is in conflict with what this family really need.
Nick Knowles and the team join forces with two world-famous British institutions, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children and the Royal Horticultural Society's Chelsea Flower Show, to transport Chris Beardshaw's gold medal-winning garden across London, crane it over buildings and rebuild it on the hospital's roof. For hundreds of families, Great Ormond Street Hospital has become a second home. For parents that means being by their child's bedside around the clock, and for children, it results in a constant treadmill of appointments and treatments. When Rosie was just two years old, her heart began to fail. Great Ormond Street Hospital doctors diagnosed her with restrictive cardiomyopathy, an extremely rare condition affecting just one in a million children, where the heart is too weak to pump blood. Rosie has had an operation to fit a mechanical heart while she awaits a donor, and so she needs intensive around-the-clock care with her mother consistently by her side. Maisy has epidermolysis bullosa, known as butterfly syndrome, which is an agonising skin disorder where the body lacks the protein it needs to hold the layers of skin together, making it blistered and as fragile as a butterfly's wing. It is such a rare and serious condition that Great Ormond Street Hospital specialists have been looking after her since birth. Despite the brilliant world-class care, there is nowhere private outside for the families to escape from the constant noise, bustle and bright lights of this huge hospital. The DIY SOS team and Chris Beardshaw have taken on this hugely ambitious build, with tricky logistics and emotional volunteers, in order to offer the many brave families a bespoke and lush calming rooftop garden as a space of welcome respite.
Nick Knowles, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and the trusty purple shirts venture north to Blackpool to tackle this year's most ambitious build in DIY SOS: Million Pound Build for BBC Children in Need. This special DIY SOS is set to capture the nation's heart as Nick and the team highlight the plight of the nation's 250,000 young carers who care on a daily basis for their parents. Blackpool Carers Trust provides limited out-of-school respite and training activities as well as peer support for young carers, and their current centre is bursting at the seams. The Blackpool Carers Trust, which is supported with funding from BBC Children in Need, provides much-needed support to young carers like 11-year-old Tyanna and ten-year-old Gracie who bathe and generally care for their ill mother, former nurse Suzanne who was diagnosed with osteoporosis, but also their dad Sean who is dealing with cancer. The Carers Trust has inherited a broken, enormous build which sees a dramatic reinvention of a huge overgrown garden and run-down, neglected building into an unrecognisable, inspiring and colourful base for youths with caring responsibilities. It's all done in the cheeky DIY SOS spirit which includes an attempt on their very own 'most selfies in three minutes' for a Guinness World Record!
Nick Knowles, Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen and hundreds of Worcestershire volunteer builders rescue 17-year-old Antonia Payne-Cheney, who has been kept prisoner in hospital for the last three years by Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a debilitating and rare condition. Until 14 she was a healthy girl, enjoying gymnastics and cheerleading, but now she is hospital bed-bound. Her joints regularly dislocate and she is unable to eat normally, so she is fed through a line directly into her heart. As a result of her complex condition, Antonia will remain in hospital until the necessary home adaptations have been made. To give Antonia the freedom to return home, the ambitious DIY SOS build features a functional sterile space for medical procedures in her own bespoke bedroom, a specially adapted wet room that offers her freedom and dignity and an accessible space for her to socialise with family and her friends. As ever, it's an immensely challenging build carried out over the hottest week of the year, so sweat and tears flow in this emotional and entertaining episode.
When 36-year-old Terry Guest, father of two daughters, had a catastrophic brain injury, he was left with severe disabilities. As his house was unsuitable for him, the only care available was an old-people's dementia care home, where he remained for several years. In need of more day-to-day care and a place of his own, his sister Tracey stepped in to offer help, but her house was also unsuitable. Now DIY SOS and their team of generous South Yorkshire volunteers and suppliers are stepping in to adapt Tracey's home and also, in a DIY SOS first, build Terry his very own separate pad at the end of the garden. Battling adverse Yorkshire weather, the team's electrician Billy's tricks with the electrics and a massive misjudgement in ordering materials, this unique build definitely tests the team's resolve.
The team help transform the home in Bidford-on-Avon of a woman suffering from mastocytosis, a rare genetic disorder, who has been forced to stay in the living room of her family's house under constant care since her diagnosis at the age of 18. Nick Knowles, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen and hundreds of Warwickshire volunteer builders redesign the entire house to provide Chloe with independence, creating a self-contained apartment complete with bedroom, wet room and sitting room within her family home.
Nick Knowles, his team and a group of volunteers are in Monmouth, Wales, to transform the family home of Charlotte, a mother recovering from a stroke that left her with brain damage, speech loss and partial paralysis. The current layout of her home makes it difficult for Charlotte to move around and have her physiotherapy treatment, so the team redesign the house to make things easier for her, her husband Rob and their children.
On the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, Garry and Kyle first fostered then adopted four vulnerable children because they wanted to give them the best life possible. Unfortunately their tired, crammed three-bed bungalow now threatens their family's future. Nick Knowles and the team take on a DIY SOS first - and one of their most ambitious home builds ever. The team are going to demolish the bungalow and in just nine days build an entirely new bespoke five-bedroom home for this inspiring family.
Kidney failure has meant that midwife Sascha has to endure intensive dialysis at hospital just to stay alive. This intense dialysis for hours on end, five days a week, places her body under immense stress with the constant threat of life-risking blood clots. If this continues, Sascha, a mother to four children, has a life expectancy of just a few years. However, Sascha could do self-dialysis daily from her home, and the increase in frequency and the decrease in intensity would mean her life expectancy and lifestyle would improve dramatically. So that is where DIY SOS and the generous volunteers and trades of Billy's home turf, Welwyn Garden City, step up to help one of their own. In an emotionally charged episode, Sascha's family home is completely renovated and extended to include a dedicated home-dialysis room for Sascha, which offers her a lifeline and extra years with her loving family.
The building crusaders come to the aid of 12-year-old Matthew from Telford, who has been stuck in hospital for three years after suffering cancer and a stroke. The youngster's head teacher and school friends have been fundraising to get him home, so now, Nick Knowles and the team - with the help of hundreds of volunteers - set out to make Matthew's home suitable for his complex medical needs.
The team helps a couple whose 24-year-old son Ryan has been living in hospital for the last five years, as they renovate the downstairs of their three-bedroom house in Bristol so he can move back home. The house needs a downstairs extension with all the bespoke care provision that Ryan will need, including physio space, a wet-room, a family area and the ability to access the entire ground floor, and if the family doesn't get this work done, Ryan will remain in hospital 50 miles away.
Nick Knowles and the team return to Veterans Street in Manchester, where, two years ago, with the help of Prince William and Prince Harry, DIY SOS launched their most ambitious project yet - transforming a derelict street into a vibrant community for veterans and local people. This time they build the final home for decorated former soldier and single dad Simon Flores, whose foot was blown off by a roadside bomb during a patrol in Iraq.
The DIY SOS team descend on Swansea to tackle one of their biggest challenges to date, as they build a centre and supported housing for young people in care and leaving care. This special programme also shares the stories from some of Wales' most vulnerable young people as well as the founder of the Roots Foundation Wales, a charity that supports young people in and leaving care. The team, with the help of hundreds of volunteers, build a bespoke new centre and transitional flats from the ground up for Roots, a charity, part-funded by BBC Children in Need despite storms and a tight 11-day build schedule.
In the summer of 2015, West Sussex wife and mother-of-four Amanda fell off her bike while training for an endurance contest, breaking 11 bones, puncturing a lung, and snapping her collarbone and back. Paralysed, she spent the next six months at Stoke Mandeville's spinal unit, while her builder husband Vic looked after the children - but determined to compete again, she returned home in a wheelchair. However, the family home is no longer suitable for Amanda - so that's where Nick Knowles and the rest of the DIY SOS team come in, strengthened by a number of local tradesmen.
Nick Knowles and the DIY SOS team transform the home of a police officer who was a victim of the Westminster Bridge terrorist attack in March 2017, suffering horrific injuries which left him wheelchair bound. Months after the attack took place, Kris still resides in hospital as his north London home is inaccessible for him, so the team and hundreds of volunteers work to get Kris living back at home to his family.
Nick Knowles and team, together with West Bromwich volunteers, helps a grieving grandmother and her family who are making do in a small house. Sandra's daughter Crystal Chambers passed away in 2015, so she and Crystal's 19-year-old brother Ziggy are doing their best to raise youngsters Deago and Ameira amid cramped conditions.
The team helps project manager Ben in Avening in the Cotswolds, whose life was changed in a split second by a freak accident while holidaying in Cyprus. Ben slipped and fell head first into the shallow end of a pool, breaking his neck in three places, and for him to move back home from Salisbury Spinal Unit, it needs to be adapted with a front access and a two-storey extension with through-floor lift, along with all the bespoke care provision that he will need, including a home-office space.
In March 2015, football fan Simon Dobbin was at an away game when he was set upon by a gang of men in an unprovoked attack that left him brain damaged, paralysed and unable to walk and talk. After many months in hospital he is finally back at home in Mildenhall Suffolk, where he receives round-the-clock care from wife Nicole. But the family home is unfit for Simon's care and rehabilitation - so that's where Nick Knowles, designer Laurence Llewelyn- Bowen and the DIY SOS team come in, strengthened by a number of local tradesmen.
Nick Knowles and the team travel to Hessle, East Yorkshire to transform the home of Darren Hudson, who was left paralysed from the waist down due to cauda equina syndrome, a spinal cord injury. After three months of hospital rehabilitation, Darren returned home to his family, but tragedy struck again eight days later when his wife Sarah died suddenly. Since that moment, Darren and his three sons have been living in emotional trauma, with the wheelchair-bound dad now the main carer for the family.
Nick Knowles meets 47-year-old Stuart in Torquay, who has progressive multiple sclerosis. Despite being six foot seven, he sleeps in a chair in the living room. His primary carer is his 73-year-old mother, Grandma Lin, who is completely blind, and walks across town every day to see to her son and her granddaughter Lauren's needs. Can the crack team of builders, plasterers and electricians help turn their lives around?
Nick Knowles and the team travel to Plymouth to meet the Morfey family, who sold their multi-level home and bought an old wrought-iron forge with the intention of renovating it for their two eldest sons, who have cerebral palsy. But when their daughter got leukaemia and moved miles away for treatment, supported by mum Tara, the family was torn apart. Now the house remains half-built, with no kitchen, hot water or living space. What the Morfeys need is a little help to bring the family back together.
This time, Nick Knowles and the team transforms a home in Bromsgrove. Karis, a 28-year-old woman who has cerebral palsy, currently lives with her mother, Karen, but now her own health is deteriorating and it is making caring for Karis almost impossible. The family have decided that Karis should move in with her older sister Jo, but her entire home is inaccessible for Karis, so the team decides to build a large two-storey extension to make the house more suitable.
The team transforms a home in Bolton, Lancashire for the Taylor-Mann family, making the house more suitable for nine-year-old William, who has severe autism. Williams's condition means that he is extremely hypersensitive to noise, and being in close proximity to his siblings is often just too much for him to bear. Nick Knowles and the team, with the help of kind volunteers, transform the property to create a quiet, calm space that can help William feel as comfortable as possible.
Nick Knowles and his team help the Newcombe family in Kent, who need to adapt their home to be able to care for their two-year-old son Arlo, who has condition that means his lungs must be constantly supported by breathing apparatus. Trailing breathing tubes, equipment the size of tumble dryers, and no downstairs bathroom have turned their once safe home into a risky space for the family. Nick and the team have amassed a huge group of volunteers for Arlo and the family, as they set to work creating a safe and inspiring space that Arlo and his family can call home.
Tragedy has been a part of life for Caroline Blanchard and her children Reece and Paige. Caroline has twice had to make the heart-wrenching decision to turn off life support for people she loves, first in 2007 after her daughter Natasha suffered severe head injuries in an accident in their garage, and then four years later after husband Paul had a heart attack in their conservatory. Now she, Reece and Paige have to live in the shadow of their grief: the garage and the conservatory where the two cruel tragedies occurred. But help is at hand. Nick Knowles and his band of volunteers, along with award-winning garden designer Arit Anderson, are on a mission to renovate the home, including demolishing the garage and conservatory so that Caroline can be free of the painful reminders and make a fresh start.
After 15 years of fostering, Stephen and Lynn Smedley were looking forward to their well-earned retirement in Carbis Bay, Cornwall. However, the dream dramatically changed when their daughter died, leaving them caring for their three grandsons. The boys, still grieving for their mum's untimely death, are forced to share a single bedroom with a triple bunkbed. There is only one bathroom and Lynn is forced to do the ironing in the shed due to lack of space. Enter Nick Knowles and the team. Their plan is to reconfigure and enlarge their home to accommodate three growing boys - with the help of hundreds of volunteers.
The Sweet family in Weston-super-Mare are happy and truly inspirational in their close-knit community. Louisa (14), Max (11) and Harry (6) were born healthy and family life was good until Harry was diagnosed with a genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. He is significantly hypermobile and suffers terrible pain in his joints, unsettled sleep and chronic constipation as part of his condition. He is also being assessed for autism.
The team head to Devon to help a family whose daily four-hour round trips for life-saving dialysis treatment for their girls is taking a heavy toll on family life.
For the first time ever, the DIY SOS team head to Bangor in Northern Ireland, the childhood hometown of our build manager Mark Miller, to help the McCreight family.
Midwife Lindsey married ex-Royal Engineer Shaun in 2019. Lindsey had two children from a previous marriage and then had two boys with Shaun. In the summer of 2021, they began to extend their house, with a local builder working with them to put in the foundations, walls and roof, and to get the extension up to first fix. The plan was for Shaun to finish the build himself.
Jordan Hutchison is an inspirational teenager. He has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, but this has not stopped him defying expectations and raising huge sums of money for charity. He currently lives with his parents, Jackie and Colin, and his siblings at his grandmother's house. He sleeps on an air bed, while the parents share rooms with the younger children. The family home is a shell after a series of building issues meant the family ran out of money with no way of finishing the work.
Southmead Development Trust is a resident-led charity working to improve health, well-being and employment, and to help to keep the community strong, resilient and resourceful. The Trust recently took on the running of the Southmead adventure playground. Known locally as The Ranch, it was built by the community and has been loved and well-used by many generations of local residents. Unfortunately, the playground has fallen into disrepair, suffered from vandalism and is now unfit for purpose.
Ex-fireman Gareth and his wife Mary live with their three children just north of Morpeth in Northumberland. Their 18-year-old daughter Bobbie has complex medical and mental health issues that require constant care. Mary has suffered a stroke and now has ongoing issues with her balance and needs help to look after Bobbie. Grandmother Carol helps out but now has to also looks after great-grandmother Doreen, who has early-stage dementia. This loving family rely heavily on each other but need a house that works for all of them.
Sue’s family have lived in Fegg Hayes, Stoke, for six generations. To help tackle issues of food poverty, isolation and mental health in the area, she set up a charity, Sylvester’s. They have taken over a patch of wasteland in the heart of the community with the aim of creating a community centre and garden with room to grow vegetables and space where old and young can share knowledge and experiences. Nick Knowles, the DIY SOS team and designer Sian Astley are determined to get the job done, and not even three of the worst storms to hit Britain in recent years is going to stop them. A straightforward build turns into a battle against the elements, but they are determined to help this community to help themselves.
Peter, a former car mechanic, is the primary carer for his family 24/7. His wife Sarah and daughter Suzanne are both suffering from myotonic dystrophy, a long-term genetic disorder that affects muscle function. Peter also looks after his elder brother Steve. Peter started building an extension to adapt the house to everyone's growing needs, but the pressure of looking after his family and trying to complete the build has got too much. There just aren't enough hours in the day, and now his own health has taken a turn for the worse. He is unable to finish the build, and the family's future is in genuine jeopardy.
