Based in York and Leeds, the five rail workers gave their time to help build new facilities for St. Michael’s Youth Project in Hull as part of The Big Build programme for Children in Need.

The special episode went live on Tuesday the 16th of November on BBC with presenter Rhod Gilbert and the DIY:SOS team working with more than 120 volunteers each day to build a brand new adventure playground for the youth project which was funded via BBC Children in Need.

St. Michael’s Youth Project is a charity that works with both children and young people in Hull and its surrounding areas and brings activities to enhance emotional and physical health and wellbeing whilst building confidence and self-esteem.

The charity aims to raise aspirations for children’s and young peoples futures by encouraging them to realise their potential.

The Network Rail building team workers who took part in the project are Ashley Frankland, Gary Fairbank, Alan Hartley, Steve Tudor, Connor Walker and Dan Barnett.

The incredible work undertaken for the project has seen a field transformed into a purpose-built camping facility and will give the charity much-needed amenities to do their essential work.

Network Rail has also supported the project by donating 100 sleepers which were used to support the outdoor kitchen, nature classroom, toilet and shower block, bird watching tower, fire pit area and pizza oven alongside storage facilities for bikes and camping gear.

Ashley Frankland said:

“I’m really proud of what we managed to achieve in just ten days. I have family ties in this area, so it was great to be able to get hands-on and contribute to a project which will make a real difference to children and young people in the area.”

Jo Lorenz, Project Lead at St Michael’s Youth Project said:

“We can’t really put into words how incredible what DIY SOS and all of the volunteers and tradespeople have done for us. This new adventure campsite is going to benefit so many children and young people across Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire and make a huge difference to their lives. A huge thank you to everyone who has helped.”

The charity has been supported with funding from BBC Children in Need for several years, with a three-year grant of £64,012 being used to provide The Eating Table project which sees the delivery of weekly activities based around food and healthy eating for children, young people and their families, and is aimed to help stop hunger and build positive relationships with food.

Network Rail wants to help support their employees who work with volunteering schemes by providing them up to five days of volunteer leave each year to help UK registered charities and also to get behind community engagements activities.

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