DIY SOS gives grieving Kettering family 'hope for the future'

Lindsey McAuley said the work from DIY SOS was "just wow"

A woman whose home was transformed by the BBC's DIY SOS team said it had given her family "hope for the future".

Lindsey McAuley and her four children were unable to live in the house in Kettering, Northamptonshire, until the renovation.

Her husband Shaun died last year from an aggressive form of cancer, with work on the property left unfinished.

Ahead of the broadcast on BBC One, she said "I can't remember whether I cried" when the work was revealed.

A host of builders and trades people helped to transform the property

Lindsey and Shaun McAuley had started work on an extension to transform their Kettering home last year.

The couple had two children of their own, as well as two daughters from Mrs McAuley's previous marriage.

They had planned to have an extension built on the house in Pine Road before installing the kitchen and bathroom themselves.

Work had started in May last year, but Mr McAuley fell ill in mid-September.

Initially he had an operation on his kidneys and bowel, but was then struck down by an aggressive cancer and died in November.

The BBC DIY SOS team took a week to renovate the house in January, which had been left "unliveable" without a kitchen or bathroom.

The house was left uninhabitable following Shaun McAuley's death last year before building works could be completed

Mrs McAuley said when she saw the finished house "we were just blown away, we were speechless, we didn't know what to say, it was just amazing".

Mrs McAuley added: "It's just mind-blowing what people do for other people who are in our situation; it's given us hope for the future that we'll now be able to help other people in our situation."

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Presenter Nick Knowles said the McAuleys' predicament was particular difficult as the family "had nowhere - not only to live, but nowhere to grieve".

Speaking to BBC Radio Northampton, he said the team and the volunteers "managed to build the home [Shaun] had envisioned for the family and they could start to find a new normal".

"I feel like it's a health check for an area, and everywhere we go no matter how tough things might be the response is always magnificent," he added.

Mrs McAuley said: "It was really important for us to have Shaun everywhere.

"Shaun is everywhere in this house with us, even though he can't be here."

DIY SOS: The Big Build - Kettering will be on BBC One at 20:00 BST and available live and on the BBC iPlayer afterwards.