IT’S not every day that you have a TV Gladiator lending a hand when you’re working but that’s just what happened to business owner Andy Moxon recently.
Andy owns Phoenix Worktops Ltd with his wife Katie and last month they took part in an episode of the BBC’s DIY SOS, something that Katie describes as the ‘most stressful but amazing’ experience ever.
It’s the second time that the company, based at Oaks Business Park, have offered their help to Nick Knowles and his team for one of their projects.
They first volunteered to help the series about three years ago for a Children in Need special and earlier this year, the couple heard about another episode that they could potentially help on.
“I follow the show on social media and saw that they were going to be building a community centre from scratch for families in Beverley so I reached out to see if we could help,” said Katie.
“We were invited along to a trades day where you meet the designer and all the potential trades go along.
“It was a crazy, busy day and later they came back and said they would love to work with us again.
“We’re quite a small business but it’s such a rewarding thing to do.
“It really gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling you don’t actually get to meet the people you have helped until the ‘reveal’ day when we all get to see the finished results.
“It’s really emotional the first time you get to meet the people you’ve helped.
“This time they were helping build a community centre from the ground up the people involved had been providing a safe space and feeding hundreds of families from a pop-up tent .It was amazing what they managed to do.
“The reveal day is brilliant there are lots of tears and laughter and you are surrounded by people who are all there for the same reason.
“You get the biggest high when you see what you have all achieved together.”
During the build week, Andy and his colleague Tony Kirkham joined hundreds of other trades people, the DIY SOS team and three of TV’s Gladiators who were also on site to lend a hand.
The kind-hearted couple, from Cudworth, are no strangers to lending a helping hand where they can.
“I believe in karma: whatever you give out, you get back,” said Katie.
“We hold coffee mornings to raise cash for charity and we sell surplus marble as chopper boards to generate income for the hospice.
“With the DIY SOS project, our amazing supplier Worldwide Stones Limited in Sheffield donated the slabs of quartz and we were more than happy to put the work in.
“Would we do it again? Absolutely.”
The show is expected to be aired in the Autumn.
