Big hearted Cory joins the Band of Builders

Mansfield joiner Cory Ratcliffe joined the Band of Builders in transforming the home of a disabled two year old girl.

Corey Ratcliffe, 24, was part of the volunteer army Band of Builders who descended on a house in Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire to help little Sadie Jenkins and her family.

It was a week-long project to build a bedroom and bathroom for two-year-old Sadie, who depends on a machine to help her breathe.

Corey said: “This is the first project I’ve done with them.

“There’s quite a few people from the Mansfield area who are involved with them.

“I saw it on Facebook and thought it would be something I would be interested in doing.

“They were 16-hour days, I had to get up at 4am to travel 135 miles to Hoddesdon and then came back that night and set off on Sunday to give them a hand again.

“On the Saturday we emptied all the house of furniture and loaded it onto vans, then we started making some bespoke furniture and relining the floors for other tradesmen to come. It’s the least you can do to help a fellow tradesman.”

The work lasted for nine days and the house was handed back to the Jenkins family on Sunday.

The Band of Builders (BoB) brings together members of the construction industry willing to donate their skills and time for free to help fellow tradesmen in need. Sadie’s dad Carl is a plasterer.

Band of Builders paid for the family to go to Center Parcs as they can cater for Sadie’s disabilities.

Using donated materials from Jewson, the team redecorated Sadie’s bedroom to meet her health needs and a range of other improvements.

The organisation was founded by Addam Smith, who carried out a project to renovate friend and colleague Keith Ellick’s home after he was diagnosed with cancer, enlisting help from tradesmen from across the country.

Addam said: “When we heard about little Sadie and everything she and her family have been through, we just wanted to do something to help.”

“Sadie spent the first year of her life at Great Ormond Street Hospital and she is still attached to a ventilator in the evenings and at night.

“It’s a great privilege for us all to come down here.”