Keith’s Second Project
Newport, June 2026
WHY WE ARE HELPING
In May 2024, Band of Builders completed a project for Keith, who had suffered a severe stroke. His family were originally told that a nursing home was the only option for him.
His wife, Linda, was adamant that he should go home, so they turned their lounge into a makeshift bedroom for the former joiner and made do until our charity stepped in to build a bedroom (including a wet room) on the ground floor.
More than 50 volunteers took 22 days to complete the project, and Keith loves the room – and it’s fair to say that it’s changed his and Linda’s lives immeasurably.
Two years on, volunteers from Band of Builders are revisiting Keith and Linda to improve the exterior access around the extension so that it’s easier for him to leave the house in his wheelchair.
MEET KEITH
THE BACKGROUND
In December 2021, retired joiner Keith Parry suffered a stroke in an upstairs bedroom at his home. Upon dialling 999, his family were told there would be a five-hour wait for an ambulance. Friends and family rallied around, but it still took them 45 minutes to get him down the stairs so that he could be driven to his nearest hospital, where a crash team was waiting for him.
The 70-year-old was thrombolysed to break up blood clots and prevent new clots from forming – but that evening, he suffered a second bleed on the brain, which left him in intensive care for a week.
The stroke robbed Keith of his speech and mobility.
In total, Keith spent seven months in different hospitals in South Wales undergoing rehabilitation, and healthcare professionals suggested that he be moved to a nursing home.
Wife Linda flatly refused and had a hospital bed and lifting equipment installed in the lounge of their home – where Keith slept. Because their house is at the bottom of a steep bank, his family couldn’t get him out of the house, so Keith had only been out of the house three times in the two years before the extension was built.
THE PROJECT
As the front of Keith’s house is on a steep slope, separate work has been completed to install an exterior wheelchair lift to make it much easier for Keith to leave the property.
However, the challenge for both Linda and healthcare professionals transporting Keith out of the house (for medical appointments) is getting Keith out via the front door.
This project will involve installing decking and ramps so that Keith can leave the house directly from his bedroom and go around the side of the extension and straight to the wheelchair lift.
When: Jun 2026
Where: Newport
Trades Required: Landscapers
