DIY SOS: Children in Need Special with Rhod

Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert heads to Brandesburton near Hull in East Yorkshire, where he joins regular experts Mark, Chris, Jules and Billy for an adventurous build in support of BBC Children in Need.

The team, alongside an army of kind-hearted local volunteers, will pour their hearts and souls into transforming a 2.5-acre, overgrown site into a purpose-built adventure campsite for St Michael’s Youth Project – affectionately known as St Mike’s – which receives funding from BBC Children in Need.

For more than 30 years, it has been working with children and young people in Hull and the surrounding areas to deliver a variety of activities that improve their emotional and physical health and wellbeing. It also supports them to build their confidence and self-esteem, raising aspirations for the future and encouraging the youngsters to reach their potential.

The project works with more than 500 kids and young people who have little to no access to gardens or green spaces and, through their programme of support, gives them the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of and learn from the natural world.

St Michael’s organises a small number of camping trips and residentials throughout the year at sites that are at least three hours away, which means that not all of the children they support are able to access them. Some also lack the confidence to be away from home overnight.

St Mike’s has been receiving funding from BBC Children in Need for several years. A three-year grant of £64,012 is currently being used to deliver The Eating Table project, which delivers weekly activity sessions based around food and healthy eating for children and young people and their families, aiming to help prevent hunger and encourage a positive relationship with food.

If all that’s not worth a few days of back-breaking labour, we don’t know what is.

During the course of the programme, the team will build a field kitchen to teach cooking skills, a landscaped campfire, a pizza oven, an exterior, covered classroom, a circular, one-kilometre-long mountain bike course with duel-skill level, a bird-watching tower, a low-walk rope, an adventure playground, a toilet and shower block, and storage unit for 20 tents and 20 bikes.

As well as following the ups and downs of the mammoth construction project, navigating supply chain delays and difficult weather conditions and Covid-19 restrictions, the programme also shares a collection of stories from children and young people who have benefitted from the support of St Mike’s, and shows the impact of the project’s work on the youngsters and their families.

Funnyman Rhod was clearly thrilled to take part in the special edition, and says: “It’s a great honour to step into Nick’s enormous steel toe-capped boots and be involved in Children in Need. I’m looking forward to joining the infamous DIY SOS team, and rallying an enormous group of local volunteers on a wonderfully ambitious and important project.

“After having tried my hand at over 30 jobs on my Work Experience television programme, I’m hoping I may even be of some use around the site. My vis is high and my hat is hard, so bring it on.”

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