Fiancée of sight-impaired former landscaper thanks volunteer tradespeople for home makeover
The fiancée of a sight-impaired former landscaper couldn’t hold back the tears after seeing her home transformed by charity volunteers – who finished the decorating project her fiancé first started more than a year ago.
Debi Richens was overwhelmed by the work of volunteers from national construction charity Band of Builders (BoB) – a registered charity that completes practical projects to help members of the UK construction industry and their families who are battling illness or injury. BoB stepped in to help Simon Taylor, who could not complete the work he had started after losing the sight in his right eye and the vision going down to 30% in his left eye – all in the space of a year.
Debi thanked the handful of volunteers – some of whom made daily five-hour round trips to join in the three-day project to prepare and paint the halls, stairs and landing and fit new oak doors for all the upstairs rooms. “Our house looks amazing,” she said. “I cannot thank the team from Band of Builders enough for their commitment and dedication, with some travelling through the floods to get here every day. The decoration of our house has always been something of a work in progress – especially as Simon was building up his landscaping business – but when he lost his sight, he lost his business, and we thought we’d never get the decorating finished.”
Simon added that he too was overwhelmed – and amazed at the speed, efficiency and organisation of the volunteers. “The team of volunteers were fantastic, and their standard of work is second to none. But what is most humbling is that some of the volunteers had young families but gave up their time to help someone they’d never met. They are incredible.”
Simon’s story
Last year, Simon was on the verge of expanding his landscaping business – as he had begun to specialise in resin-bound surfacing and had a full order book. He was about to buy a new tipper truck and had a good team around him.
Over the Christmas period in 2022, Simon first noticed slightly blurred vision in his right eye – but didn’t think much about it. He eventually went to hospital, where he was diagnosed with a macular hole – a small gap that opens at the centre of the retina in the macula. It causes blurred and distorted vision. He underwent an operation on it in April 2023. In August of the same year, he then suffered two retinal detachments (where the thin layer at the back of an eye becomes loose) and had to have four operations to try to rectify the issues. Unfortunately, each procedure led to a further deterioration to the point where he now has light-only perception in his right eye. Recuperation after the first two operations involved lying face down for 14 hours a day for 10 days.
Around the same time, he developed a macular hole in his left eye, and surgery was not recommended due to his vision loss in his right eye. Although his left eye has stabilised, he is left with around 30% sight, which is distorted and has a central blank spot. He now holds a CVI (Certificate of Visual Impairment) and is registered as sight impaired with West Berkshire Council. Since losing his vision, Simon cannot work as a landscaper and has had to close the business.
BoB completes 40th project
This is the 40th project completed by the charity – which has thanked local businesses and suppliers including Bros Carpentry, Russell Interiors, Lick Paint Co and Howdens. Ben Russell was the project manager and said it was a humbling experience that such a small gesture could mean so much. “I’ll never forget the looks on Simon and Debi’s faces when they saw the completed project,” he said. “The team and I, including Kaisha, Scott, Dave S and David W, were happy to give a bit of our time to do something for somebody else that meant the world to them.”
For more information about BoB and volunteering for upcoming projects, click here
