The Challenge

To support DIY SOS on a Big Build in Barnstaple, helping to make life easier for a young family forced apart by lengthy but lifesaving trips to hospital.

How did we help?

We provided containers for storage and site protection, so that the team and volunteers could have safe storage and access to their tools for the duration of the build.

What equipment was deployed?

Our Exeter team provided three 20ft storage containers for tools, and a security welfare unit with chair, table and office equipment. We provided the units and haulage free of charge to support this heart-warming community project.

The whole story

The team at Willbox were delighted to see at first hand the difference that simply providing suitable storage containers can make to a project.Nick Knowles and the BBC DIY SOS ‘Big Build' team asked the community of Barnstaple to help adapt a family home to transform the lives of Jan and Lucy Collins and their five young children. Daughters Daisy and Amber require many hours of kidney dialysis each week, and before the Big Build life for the whole family revolved around hospital trips, meaning they were able to spend very little time together.

The DIY SOS team, designer Laurence Llewelyn Bowen and hundreds of volunteers and businesses came together to help create a home dialysis centre, so that the girls can receive treatment at home and the family can spend much more time together.

Willbox was one of many businesses across the south west who volunteered their services for the project, having been contacted by the DIY SOS team a couple of months before the build. The containers were delivered to the site and set up where they would be most useful, then collected once the project was completed.

‍“It was wonderful to see how much can be achieved by a community all working together to support a family in need,” says Laura Johns, Willbox Regional Manager, who attended the ‘big reveal' along with over a hundred of those involved. “The family were overwhelmed and we could see how excited the children were to have this new dialysis centre in their old garage – it meant so much to them all.”

Watch DIY SOS's 'Barnstaple Big Build'

The Barnstaple episode to be broadcast on Monday 15th Feb at 9pm on BBC1 will bring back happy memories for Laura and her Willbox team. “It was a really lovely experience, and very humbling to see the difficulties some families face and the amount of goodwill and energy that can be harnessed by a show like DIY SOS. Willbox is proud to have been a small part of this amazing project.”

About Willbox

Willbox, part of the Williams Shipping Group, has over 25 years' experience in container hire and new and used shipping container sales. We can supply containers to meet any need, including site accommodation, storage, and bespoke containers modified to your requirements, and our consultancy service is here to help you make the best choice.

We deliver nationwide from over 20 depots across the country – contact us now for fast and efficient container services.