Corby DIY SOS is ‘a dream come true’ for family

Jackie and Colin Hutchison moved out of their Corby home last Tuesday leaving it in the hands of volunteer experts to start the rebuild.

The Hutchisons were desperate to make their home habitable for their 16-year-old son Jordan who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy - and the big build reveal will be this Thursday.

Jackie said: “I’m so glad they’ve come. I’m in shock. I’ve got this strange feeling and get goosebumps thinking about it.

“Nothing went our way all these years. I didn’t know how much more I could take. It’s a dream come true and I couldn’t ask for anything more.

“It will change our lives and just for Jordan to have his independence will be amazing.

“Just getting him through the front door was so hard. Nothing was accessible for him. One day he said ‘it feels like I’m in jail in this house’.

“I can’t wait to see all the volunteers on Thursday. They are never ever going to know how this will change our lives.

“Jordan can’t use his hands so he can’t turn on a tap and depends on us for everything and for a 16-year-old boy, for any teenager that shouldn’t happen.

“They’ve allowed us a little bit of freedom and it will give us time to be a family. Jordan’s really excited and we really want to go home. We’ve had 12 years without a home and now we can have our own home.”

It was fourth time lucky as for the family after producers of the popular BBC TV show got in touch and were accepted for the team’s help.

Jackie said: “It’s very exciting - it doesn’t seem real. I had applied four times in the last 12 years, the last time in 2017.

“They phoned me up out of the blue, spoke to us loads on the phone, spoke to Jordan’s physio and occupational therapist and looked into our bank statements.

“It’s happened so quickly and last week we were saying goodbye to the house.”

The family had been living in rented accommodation for 12 years because the house they owned wasn’t big enough to house Jordan’s specialised equipment.

Renting out their own home they managed but with a growing family finally wanted to make the adjustments to their own home necessary for Jordan to be independent.

The move back home meant the family had to get rid of much of their furniture because of the lack of space.

However, the building work went wrong and the family had to move in with Jackie’s mum Carol Reynolds.

Jackie said: “I had to leave my job which I loved as a TA at Studfall School to earn more money so we could get a loan.

“We got £60,000 but things kept going wrong with the house which would cost £5,000 here or £5,000 there.

“We did what we could but eventually we got to the stage of ‘do we put on a roof or do we have doors and windows?’ - we chose a roof.

“DIY SOS’s timing was impeccable. We had no water, no electric - it was just a shell.”

Work started on the property last Tuesday with more than 80 volunteers clearing and preparing for the transformation of the house which will be revealed to the family on camera this Thursday.