Herschel Donates Heaters to DIY SOS

The team at Herschel were thrilled to be involved with the BBC One programme, DIY SOS, for their annual Big Build Children in Need Special supporting the fantastic charity, Nightsafe. The Big Build DIY SOS team were looking to transform a church hall at St Silas’s Church into accommodation and also a much needed support centre for young people, aged 16 to 24, who are homeless or vulnerably housed in the Blackburn community.

Nightsafe was set up by a group of local people in 1990 and their current centre is sadly no longer sufficient to support the increasing rise in demand for their services. Since starting, Nightsafe has supported over 14.5k young people who have fallen on hard times and provided them with either shelter or guidance. The objective of the transformation project was to renovate the rundown church hall, that was built in the early 1800s, transforming it into short-term accommodation. The newly converted accommodation would incorporate bedrooms and living spaces for those youngsters needing emergency shelter and enable them to gain the vital support they need.

The Herschel team could not think of a more worthwhile cause and donated a total of 13 panels, plus 2 Summit heaters; over £6k worth of app-enabled heating for the DIY SOS renovation project. The DIY SOS team had a total of nine days to complete the transformation of this neglected church into accommodation – the same amount of time these vulnerable youngsters can stay in Nightsafe’s current accommodation whilst they are given guidance and support from the Nightsafe volunteers.

Herschel infrared panels were ceiling-mounted in the bedrooms, hallways and communal kitchen area and the Summit heaters were ceiling-mounted in the communal living area providing effective and comfortable heating for those staying at the centre.

The Big Build project was a mammoth undertaking for the hardworking DIY SOS team and it was a real pleasure to attend the DIY SOS Big Reveal on 17 September and meet both the Nightsafe Team and the DIY SOS team, including presenter Nick Knowles and regular Interior Designer Gabrielle Blackman (below).

There was an incredible atmosphere and it was fantastic to see the huge collaboration of trades people and suppliers, all supporting this amazing charity. The Big Build episode of DIY SOS, their biggest annual project, aired on 13 November 2019 to a BBC One audience of more than 6m viewers. We were delighted to watch the programme with the Nightsafe team, in Blackburn, and also to hear from Jan Larkin, the CEO of Nightsafe (seen below with Herschel), who spoke passionately about the charity’s work.

It has been a privilege for Herschel Infrared to be involved and to see, and hear firsthand, the huge impact the Nightsafe charity can have in supporting the young homeless in Blackburn. We’re delighted the Children in Need project was a success and are thrilled the feedback from both Nightsafe and the DIY SOS team on our heaters has been so positive.

Nightsafe: “Huge thanks for coming and again for everything you have done for our young people ? #NightsafeHeroes.

Gabrielle Blackman: “Thank you for providing such an amazing product. So thoughtfully designed by your team and perfect for this project on every way. ❤️❤️❤️”.

Find out more about Nightsafe here and how you can support their fantastic work.