BUILDERS and tradesmen in Bicester sacrificed their time to do a 'DIY SOS'-style makeover at a charity support centre’s building.

Last Saturday, The Hummingbird Centre unveiled its brand-new holistic building which offers therapeutic treatments for people who are affected by cancer.

The new facility boasts dedicated therapy rooms for a range of complementary treatments.

Earlier this year the charity put out an appeal for local builders and companies to get involved in the transformation of the former office in just one weekend.

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It was inundated with offers of help, but traders quickly realised the makeover would not be as straight forward as they thought.

Builders overhauled the former office, which involved tearing up the old floor and electrics, installing new pipes, toilet, sink, kitchen facilities, stud walls, plastering and painting .

The Highfield Social Club donated funding which paid for a new electric massage bed and stool, Bicester-based paint specialist Andura supplied paint, Carpets for Less supplied and fitted all the flooring and Village Fabrics donated blinds for two of the charity’s buildings.

Two members from Bicester Tradesmen Direct scraped all the old carpet and glue from the floor so the new flooring could be laid.

Three months later and after plenty of hard work the doors to the new building have opened.

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Founder Mechelle Harris said: “This is the final piece of the Hummingbird Centre jigsaw. The new facility looks amazing and it’s all down to the small army of local tradespeople who have made it happen.”

Fiona Wastie, who led the project, said: “These lovely people have done all this for nothing and we are so very humbled. They all have families, children and mortgages, yet have given up their evenings and weekends to make our dream a reality.

“Without the support of all these individuals and businesses this project would have cost thousands of pounds and we would still be at a very early stage.”

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Mirella Lingwood, of building firm Leon Construction which led the work, said: “When we saw the DIY SOS call in the local paper, both Leon and Ted, our Directors, instantly said yes we will help.

“Our staff and sub-contractors - Eco-lectrical, NT Plumbing and James O’Brian Plastering - worked on the project, both during work hours and in their own time. We were also supported by several of our suppliers including John Nicholls Banbury who supplied us with the majority of the materials, Howdens Kidlington donated the kitchen and The Granite House donated the worktop. It was a real team effort.

“As a company we try to carry out some charitable work each year, and the Hummingbird Centre is such a wonderful charity, completely run by volunteers so we felt that it would be good cause.”