Some stories are worth telling twice.
Late February CEMEX received a call from DIY SOS about an upcoming show they were filming in Loughborough and would CEMEX be interested in being part of this. The DIY SOS background stories are based around families who have reached a point in their lives where they cannot cope or function properly without help and are often too proud to ask for this help.
The story of Mark and Jenny Corns follows this format. They already had a young daughter when Jenny was diagnosed with cancer. She recovered and with the aid of IVF they tried for another child. Sadly, Jenny gave birth to stillborn twins, however, with one egg left they tried for another child, becoming pregnant again with twins.
This is where life started to kick the family hard. The twins came prematurely with Mark having to deliver them at home whilst the emergency services were en-route. Both girls had severe respiratory issues along with a form of dwarfism, but after a period in hospital they were well enough to go home. If things couldn’t get worse, during this time Mark was diagnosed with liver and bowel cancer and is currently in remission. Jenny has become a full time Carer for both Mark and the twins, whilst trying to maintain a stable home life for their 7 year old daughter. Money was tight; the stress and strain of caring for them all was immense which was impeding Mark’s long recovery. Home life was as far away from ideal as possible.
DIY SOS was approached by a family friend and it was decided that they would adapt and extend the house which was far too small for their medical conditions and needs.
Darren Kent facilitated the programme’s request for CEMEX and received authorisation from Stuart Keighley to proceed with an FOC offer to supply of 8m3 concrete for the extension. He also got his friend from Camfaud Pumps involved who supplied the concrete pumps FOC. We received some excellent feedback from the BBC Researcher who was genuinely grateful for our gesture.
We were asked to be part of the Reveal Show on 19 March 2015, 9 days after the initial work started. Those of you that watch the programme will be aware of this; those who don’t it is where the family get to see their new home for the first time and meet the people/volunteers who took part.
Darren was our representative on that day and says it was an emotional few hours when the family took the opportunity to thank everyone personally who took part. This was some 220+ people. The family is the most humble people he has met and Mark commented that even if his own battle fails he is extremely positive for the NEW future that has been provided for his family.
This is more than donating 8m3 of concrete – this was the opportunity for CEMEX to be part of the community in Loughborough and make a major change for a family whose lives had been turned upside down. This is living the CEMEX ideal of Being Best for the Communities and makes you proud to work for such a company. The show is being aired on BBC One sometime June/July 2015.