If you watched the episode of DIY SOS: The Big Build that aired on BBC1 last Thursday (9th June) you will have been touched by the moving story of Joe Grafton (pictured above) and his 7 year old daughter Lucy in Hopesay, Shropshire.

The father and daughter had been living in a caravan next to their building site of a house for most of 2015 after suffering a catalogue of tragic misfortunes.

Joe’s wife and Lucy’s mother Jessica died suddenly from leukaemia in 2014, just weeks after a work accident left Joe with an injured back and unable to continue his job as a firefighter.

Amid such tragedy and grief, Joe was determined to complete their home renovations for Lucy. However, a 4ft wide stream was discovered under their home, which drained any remaining funds and ground the project to a halt.

Having suffered so much, they were a worthy cause for the DIY SOS team to help and so presenter Nick Knowles and his army of volunteers came to Shropshire to transform their building site into a homely country cottage in just 9 days. See the finished exterior below.

The transformation of the interior was just as impressive as the outside. That’s where we were able to make a contribution, by donating three of our fleeces to give Joe and Lucy years of comfort.

We were asked to help by Gabrielle Blackman, the interior designer who put together the stylish room plans for this DIY SOS build. Gabrielle has a great eye for beautiful yet practical interior design as you can see from these mood boards for the key rooms.

The living room features an Icelandic sheepskin on a leather butterfly chair. Upstairs in Lucy’s fantastic bedroom is an Icelandic sheepskin rug and in Joe’s bedroom, is a rare breed sheepskin rug on the floor between the bed and picture window.

Watching the programme certainly evoked mixed emotions - with the heartbreak of their story but also the heartwarming sight of over one hundred strangers coming together to give the father and daughter both a home and new hope for the future.

If you missed it, the episode is available to watch on Iplayer until the 8th July. Just have the box of tissues nearby - it’s a real tear-jerker: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07gbtd3