TEN-year-old quad amputee Luke Mortimer has given his heartfelt thanks to volunteer tradespeople who have completed a project to adaptat his home in Embsay.

Luke – who was just seven when he lost his arms and legs after contracting meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia – is thrilled with the renovations the 12-strong team from construction charity Band of Builders (BoB) have made to make his home life easier.

The brave youngster, who along with dad Adam and four BoB volunteers recently appeared on ITV’s This Morning in jUly to tell hosts Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond all about the project,  said: “I would like to thank the BoB team for making my life so much easier around my home.

“I can remember when they first came the house looked like a wreck, but then within a few weeks it looked like a dream home that you only see on TV.”

Band of Builders operations director Tony Steel thanked all the volunteers who donated their time free of charge for the project and also the local community, which rallied round with donations of food and drinks to keep the volunteers fed during the project.

“The look on Luke’s face made it all worthwhile,” said Tony. “Luke is an inspiration to us all, and it has been our pleasure to help his dad complete the renovations to the home – and therefore make the quality of Luke’s home life just that bit better.”

The bulk of the work on the project took place at the end of June – with the final touches completed after a new kitchen was installed, ready for the handover on Sunday, September 3.

Dad Adam is a builder, and although he had started work on making adaptations himself, he reached out to Band of Builders for help. The chartiy helped Adam make changes including putting in a new shower room with easy-to-use fittings, installing underfloor heating, lowering the ceilings, insulating the house and fitting new wooden flooring.

Band of Builders called on volunteer tradespeople from the 50,000+ members of its community of supporters and well-wishers – which included plumbers, plasterers, bathroom fitters, heating specialists and decorators.

It also drew on the backing of businesses to provide materials and support, from headline sponsor CT1 and others including Gibbs & Dandy, Palio flooring by Karndean, ServiceLoo, Lee Brothers, Myers Building Supplies, Fox Kitchens, Life; Kitchens for living, Silestone, Meridian, Direct Wood Flooring, Evo Core, Floor Design Studios, C Jennings flooring, Flooring Superstore.

More information on BoB at: www.bandofbuilders.org

Read about Luke Mortimer's journey on his Facebook page: thisisluke