Title: 1D's DIYSOS Children In Need Special
Rating: PG
Pairing: Harry/Louis
Summary: This is a script based story narrated by Nick Knowles. With the help of famous architect Louis Tomlinson and award winning landscaper Harry Styles, the DIY SOS embark on their annual Children In Need project.
Authors Notes: This was written in less than 48 hours and is possibly a bit of a mess and slightly terrible. I hope you enjoy it though and if you live in Britain, and haven't done so, please donate to CIN via the number provided.
Disclaimer: The events of this story never happened. This is all fiction. I make no money from writing it. All the characters belong to themselves.
INTRO
Pudsy, what are you doing?
[Nick pushes the gesturing Pudsy out of the camera shot]
You can't even speak so how on earth do you think you could host the show? Go on back to the BBC centre. Jeez.
Hello folks. I'm Nick Knowles and this is DIY SOS Children In Need: THE BIG BUILD!
Cue title music
~*~
For many families, myself included, sending our children off to school every morning is something we take for granted. Sure, it can be difficult juggling the school runs around our jobs but, at the end of the day, we are secure that there will always be a place for our children to receive a decent education.
But with councils short on cash during the economic crisis; when a school is no longer fit for purpose, some councils have no choice but to close the building and distribute the pupils to other schools. For parents with a special needs child a special needs school is a lifeline for them. Mainstream schools often struggle to provide the right equipment and environment for children with special needs and, because of it, these children can be left feeling out of place and isolated.
Kersie House, in the heart of rural Yorkshire, understands that and has provided specialised education for children with special needs for over fifty years. Built as an asylum in the late 19th Century, it was converted into a private high school for the blind in the early sixties but later, in the early 80s, opened it's doors to teenagers with a whole host of different physical and learning conditions. Unfortunately, in 1990, due to spiralling costs, the owner could no longer afford to keep the school running and so Kersie House was transferred into the care of the local council, who opened it up to the public. In 1995, after flooding forced the closure of two special units, Kersie House starting taking on primary-aged children as well and is now the only special needs school in a ten mile radius. On last count, over two hundred and fifty pupils are currently enrolled – with needs ranging from minor learning difficulties to those who require supplementary lifesupport equipment 24/7. All these children need dedicated and specialised care and assistance but unfortunately this school can no longer provide a safe environment for them to receive it.
Even from the outside, it is quickly obvious that this school is in poor condition. With broken windows, sagging rooflines and crumbling brickwork, it is barely better than a ruin. The playground is a mess of uneven concrete and a nettle-ridden wilderness. There are very few wheelchair ramps, no designated play areas, no fencing to keep the children safe from the main road or from the woodland that lies just beyond the school boundary. There is barely any car-parking for the teachers and buses have to unload the children on the side of the road, which is dangerous. The road is busy as it is the main route through town.
Inside the school the conditions are even worse - with leaky roofs, drafty classrooms, and, quite frankly, pitiful provisions. The toilets are poorly designed for disability access and there is only one with a hoist. Many of the doors aren't wide enough for wheelchairs to fit through, meaning some children can only access a handful of rooms and everything, from the chairs to the light switches, seems to echo it's Victorian roots. The building is also too small for it's growing student population. Children are being squeezed into classrooms that just weren't designed for so many.
