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DIY SOS hails 'community spirit' in Beverley

Holly Phillips & Amanda White
BBC News
Amanda White/BBC A man and woman both wearing white hard hats smiling. The man has his arm around the woman and their heads are touching. They're outdoors near a fence, with other people in safety gear and a green tent in the background.Amanda White/BBC
John Whelan with his daughter Angela Oldroyd at the building site

DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles has hailed the "community spirit" of volunteers in East Yorkshire as hundreds of people ed forces to build a club for homeless young people.

The building was finished on Thursday after the team spent eight days transforming a field in Beverley, East Yorkshire, into a new home for the Cherry Tree Youth Club.

Among the crew was 80-year-old retired tradesman John Whelan who volunteered on the project for the BBC programme every day.

Mr Whelan, from Beverley, said he took part "for the kids - for their future - so that they can learn, enjoy something and be taught new things in life".

Amanda White/BBC A group of construction workers wearing hard hats and high-visibility vests. They're gathered outdoors under a blue sky with white clouds. They are smiling and raising their hands in celebration. A large white tent and residential houses are in the background.Amanda White/BBC
The group of volunteers cheering after the project was completed on Thursday

Cherry Tree s around 90 young people a week aged 10 to18 - and for those with special educational needs and disabilities up to the age of 25.

The youth club was launched in 2016, but of the group had been meeting in a gazebo in a park since the pandemic while a permanent home was sought.

Mr Whelan's daughter, Angela Oldroyd, urged her father to participate in the community project after his wife said he would have loved to take part if he was younger.

Ms Oldroyd said: "He was in the trade for 50 years, he knows his stuff inside and out and what better person to have on site than somebody who knows his stuff":[]}