A new wet room will greatly increase the quality of life of a Weymouth sufferer of motor neurone disease, after the new facility was officially opened by Lord and Lady Fellowes at a ceremony on Friday.
The wet room was built at the home of Eleanor Kirlew with work from more than a dozen subcontractors working pro-bono, along with financial help from the Mervyn Stewkesbury Charitable Foundation.
To inaugurate the new room, a ceremony was held at the home Mrs Kirlew shares with her husband Mick on Goldcroft Avenue on Friday, attended by workers, charity trustees and neighbours - as well as Lord and Lady Fellowes, who live in nearby West Stafford and agreed to a request to come along and cut the ribbon.
"I'm a big believer in self-help and in communities pulling together," Lord Fellowes told the Echo. "And this is a marvellous example.
"This is someone with a very serious condition, but instead of being defeated by it, she has been helped by people coming together.
"In the end, we are all interdependent. Community is so important in these troubling times."
Mrs Kirlew, who uses a wheelchair as a result of her motor neurone disease, expressed delight at the new wet room, which she said would greatly improve the quality of her life.
"It means the world to me. I'm so grateful to everyone who has come here to help," she said.
"When the chips are down, people always come together. It's going to give me a much better quality of life; it'll make life much easier.
"I'm really pleased with the result."
To adapt the room to Mrs Kirlew's needs, workers raised the roof on what was once a small garage area adjoining the house, before tiling it and fitting it with a large shower, toilet with handrail and a body-drier.
Councillor Christine James, whose daughter is a neighbour of the Kirlews, first proposed the project to the Mervyn Stewkesbury charity.
"If we can do something for people in need in the community, then that's great," said Cllr James.
The following subcontractors provided labour and materials for the wet room:
Nigel Clift: carpenter
Lee Wills (L C Wills Ltd): bricklayers
Keystone Civil Engineering: groundworks
Brian Cookson of Kitchen Craft: supplied tiles and a tiler.
Sam Squibb: floor screeder
Danny Harmsworth of VH Electrical: electrics
Shaun at D & B Mechanical: plumbing
Stalbridge Timber
GMS Weymouth: donated shower, seat and tap.
Towel Rads: donated a towel rail.
Portland Stone
Roger Locke Consultancy
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