Dermot Bannon found working on a special project with Julian Benson, creating a home away from home for families of cystic fibrosis patients, to be both challenging and deeply rewarding. He details the unique challenges of a project entirely reliant on volunteers and the incredible generosity he witnessed.
Dermot Bannon revealed that the biggest challenge in helping Julian Benson achieve his dream of creating a home away from home for families of cystic fibrosis patients was the lack of budget. The pair collaborated on a special episode of Room to Improve on RTÉ, documenting their journey. Dermot described the experience as humbling and readily participated alongside the other volunteers. Dermot shared with RSVP Live: 'The hardest part was we had no money, so it was all done by volunteers.
That has been the hardest part and the best part at the same time. 'Normally, I do a drawing in the office, and I send it off to a builder and the house gets built. I might as well have been putting the drawing in my drawer in the office because we still had to find people to build the house through goodwill. 'The hardest part was not knowing when things could be done because it was all dependent on when people would come on board.'In just one year, Dermot and the volunteers transformed the building, breathing new life into it. He explained: 'There is a huge amount of innovation that has gone into this building. It is an old building, it is 160 years old, but we have got underfloor heating, heat pumps, and an A3 rating. To get that building up to an A3 rating is pretty spectacular.' 'That was all down to big companies coming on board. But not only bringing their lads and materials, but also giving us innovation from head office down. 'The innovation is mind blowing' For Dermot, undertaking this project was extraordinary and humbling due to the families who would benefit from it. He stated: 'When you hear their stories, and the difficulties for their families. I forget because I live in Dublin that there’s so many people who don’t and when you have CF, you can be in hospital for a couple of months, four months at a time sometimes. 'People who are in hospital have families - mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and siblings. And logistically trying to keep your life going when you are in hospital for that long, to have a place that is secure, that is hard. Imagine trying to book hotels or B&Bs, or drive up and down in one day. 'This house will just give people a peace of mind. For people who have got somebody in hospital, they’ve enough going on. This is just a little bit of support, a little bit of a helping hand for people. 'There is a room there and they don’t need to worry about that side of things.'The RTÉ star added: 'I have never seen that level of kindness before. I have seen people doing charity things, charity runs, charity triathlons, all of that. But I have never actually seen heart, kindness, dedication and people giving up that amount of their time. 'Having it all depend on volunteers was really difficult when you are trying to do things logistically but seeing volunteers and everybody being equal on the site was great. 'And it doesn’t matter because everybody’s doing it for free. That will live with me for the rest of my life.' Julian had a clear vision for the house, ensuring it would be functional and comfortable for families. He remarked: 'Julian’s thing was it couldn’t be an institution. A lot of these families will spend all day long in hospital, they will eat every meal in a canteen, so he just wanted this to feel like a home away from home. 'That is what it is. It is for people who are living tough lives to give them a small bit of an arm around them, in the form of a building.' Dermot actively participated, getting his hands dirty to ensure the house was ready this week. He said: 'There was no hierarchy. Normally I walk onto a site and say, ‘I need that done, that done, that done…' 'Everybody just banded together as a team and did whatever they could, whatever they were able for they did, regardless, and that was amazing.'
CYSTIC FIBROSIS DERMOT BANNON JULIAN BENSON ROOM TO IMPROVE CHARITY VOLUNTEERS HOSPITALITY CONSTRUCTION
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