Back in February 2023, we kicked off Heart Month with the launch of a new project... THE BIG HEART BUILD! This is a community project working in collaboration with The Sand Academies Trust and Gloucester City Council. We secured a spacious property that will form our new ‘HQ’ and enable us to host meetings, events, support groups and activity workshops! There was a lot of work to done before we could welcome the Heart Heroes and their families and so, we appealed to the Gloucestershire community for volunteers and donations.

The local community did what they do best, and our appeal was met with so many generous offers of labour and materials. We've had skips from Allstone Speedy Skips, Paul and his team cleared the trees and garden ready for landscaping, all the clever stuff has been expertly handled by Border Consultancy Chartered Surveyors and A.Winterbotham Structural Engineers. We've had guidance and help from Beard & Tandy and R.Sharpe Building Services and an electrical inspection by Electromech Stroud. Next came a much needed roof clean by Aquacleanse Pro followed by guttering and fascia repairs by Prime dcm.

While Rex Bishop was kindly carrying out asbestos testing inside the building, the garden was being graded by Ben and his digger. We've had a generous donation of paint from Brewers Decorators Centre and the most amazing container donated by NewSpace Lydney, expertly crained into a very tight space by Ellis Crane Hire. Ermin Plant Hire donated a rotovator in preparation for an amazing team of volunteers from GE Aerospace who spent a whole week in our new garden painting, digging and building furniture, while the huge job of new fencing was completed by Gary Young and Longford Fencing Ltd. Our beautiful garden is now accessed by brand new patio doors donated and installed by C&G Cladding Ltd…what a local community we have.

Unforeseen delays have prevented us from getting on with any major works inside the building but that hasn't stopped progress. Encouraged by good weather and support from the community our new garden now has a pond, a viewing platform, an outdoor shelter, furniture, insect hotels, plants and so much more. This garden will also be the home of our Heart Heroes Forest School, allowing children to explore their environments and build confidence for years to come.

We cannot explain how excited we are to see this project coming together, but we can tell you just how grateful we are for all the help we have received and the continued offers as The Big Heart Build moves into it's next phase. If you would like to donate or volunteer or you know someone who would please email hello@heartheroes.co.uk.