Clearview National March 2020 - Issue 220 | Page 46
Window Extra
Manchester window company
channels its charitable side…
Everglade UK, a VEKA UK
fabricator and installer
based in Manchester is
proud to have contributed
to DIY SOS ‘The Big Build’
which transformed the
Bolton home of Heather
and Martin Taylor-Mann
and their children.
» THE EPISODE, WHICH AIRED ON
BBC One at the end of November saw
150 volunteers extend and reconfigure the
house to make it better suited to the family,
and – in particular – their nine-year-old son
William who is severely autistic and has a
high sensitivity to noise.
Unable to talk, William communicates his
distress through crying. He finds sleeping
extremely difficult and is often awake through
the night, which also disturbs his sisters.
Everglade Co-Owner Deni Sirovica
explains: “It was fantastic to be involved
in a project that will bring such enormous
improvements to their daily life. The
Taylor-Mann family (of five) were sharing
two bedrooms and as the youngest daughter
got bigger and William’s condition meant
that he tended to keep everyone awake,
they were becoming overwhelmed by their
circumstances.
“Martin had begun to build a third
bedroom, but as often happens, work
commitments and financial constraints meant
the project got waylaid.
“DIY SOS came in to help, with plans
to build a timber-framed, soundproofed
extension for William where he could have
his own specially designed quiet bedroom
space, and in turn, his two sisters could
each have their own room upstairs without
William keeping them awake at night.
“Originally, Everglade was asked to provide
just two windows for the extension. But
when we saw the extent of the plans for the
rest of the house renovation, and we heard
how William can’t be left upstairs - even
50 » M AR 2020 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
momentarily - because he tries to climb out
of the windows, we volunteered to fabricate
and install eight VEKA FS casement windows
completely free of charge.
“The windows we provided were all ‘A’
rated, which means they’ll keep the house
nice and warm, and thanks to the quality
of these VEKA systems, they’ll also keep
outdoor noise down. We fitted them all with
child-lock restrictors to provide peace of mind
that William wouldn’t be at risk of opening
them wide enough to climb out.
“We also used VEKA profile to create
the front porch, which brightened up the
front of the house and created a welcoming
entranceway.
“The job was particularly tricky because
the whole project was completed in just nine
days, so all the tradespeople were trying to
work round each other at the same time in a
very small space, but it all went well and the
family were delighted - which is what it’s all
about.”
The 150-strong team of volunteers
completely renovated the downstairs kitchen
and living room, as well as adding a dining
room, a utility room and a downstairs
bathroom next to William’s new bedroom
extension (with specialist automatic taps
that prevent him being able to cause the
kind of floods he has in the past). They also
completely reconfigured the upstairs by
removing all the walls and redistributing the
space to create three bedrooms and a decent-
sized family bathroom, as well as tidying up
the garden and laying a new driveway. Not
bad for nine days’ work.
As the programme ended, Heather Taylor-
Mann said: “It’s just perfect. We’re just so
grateful.”
Martin added that the transformation will
allow the family to focus all their energy on
the three children: “We don’t have to worry
about the house now, it’s perfect for us. We
can just throw everything into them.”
When asked if the work was enough to
minimise the possibility that William might
have to go into care, Heather said: “It’s given
us hope for the future, and it’s meant that
William can just stay here as long as we can
look after him. And that’s so important… we
want to enjoy every minute...we need to say
a big, big thank you. It’s more than we ever
could have dreamed of.”
www.vekauk.com