DIY SOS viewers have been reduced to tears after Nick Knowles and his selfless team of helpers and volunteers breathed new life into The Ranch in Southmead. The 'vital' youth facility which has nurtured generations of children had fallen into a state of disrepair, with several arson attacks worsening its condition in both 2015 and 2021.
Nick Knowles was assisted by local building firms, teaching assistants, firefighters and the army as the DIY SOS team descended on The Ranch back in October, with the transformation process broadcast on BBC One this evening (May 24). Tonight's episode followed the huge revamp of the play area and youth facility as the youth workers who make The Ranch what it is expressed its importance.
Instead of simply tidying up the play area, Nick and the team went above and beyond in providing a world-class facility for the children of Southmead, one in three of whom are from low income households, to develop and grow within. Explaining the renovations in tonight's episode, Nick, 59, said: "At the top of the site, we're resurfacing the sports pitch. Next to that, the rusty shipping container will become a music studio.
Read more: DIY SOS in Bristol: How Southmead's 'vital' Ranch was rebuilt
"Beside that, the main building gets a brand new kitchen, office space, and upgraded showers. There will be added storage space, new boilers, new flooring, and insulation to keep those bills down.
"Further down, the adventure playground gets two new huge swings and a built-in trampoline - there's even a death slide. At the bottom of the slide, a sweeping new path leads downhill to the nature area, and cleaned out pond.
"There's access to the stream, and a firepit with benches to chill out on."
Towards the end of the episode, when the new play area was revealed to the youth workers, tears were shed as they could not believe their eyes. There was a truly emotional moment in the brand new music suite where, after confirming to the youth workers that the young people who make use of The Ranch would be receiving all the musical equipment they need, that Nick had to walk away after becoming emotional himself.
Given the huge scale of the build and the amazing job that the DIY SOS team did, viewers were also left overwhelmed, and expressed their admiration for the build, Nick, and the team on social media. Clare Ware said: "Nick…you’ve done me tonight. Ur tears had me in tears,
"Those kids will be able to thrive & escape toxic home lives. I wish I had something so amazing when I was a kid… Well done EVERYONE."
Jill Ebrey wrote: "#nickknowles you & your team played a blinder tonight on @BBC #DIYSOS What an amazing project to rebuild a new adventure playground in N Bristol.Wonderful play leaders emphasising importance of play. Kids so excited. We need these in every district in Britain."
John Marland said: "got me again! Tuesday night #diysos @BorisJohnson there is NO reason in a civilised society that every town doesn’t have a youth facility of this quality."
"Nothing quite like a good cry .. it cleanses the soul #DIYSOS" said Julia.
Deb wrote: "I love that the kids ran straight outside to play , so much better than in a bedroom looking at a screen. All kids should have this #diysos"
James, one of the youth workers at The Ranch, gave an emotional speech after the big reveal. Speaking to the dedicated team of workers, James said: "What you've done, is you've brought something world class, incredible to the community that for the last couple of years, we've just had bad news, negative stories, bad things happening.
"And this," James said, pointing, "And this, and this, and that out there... is a positive thing that you guys have made happen and we know it's not an easy time to take time off work, and to turn down paid work to come here and do this.
"It's blown our minds walking around."
He added: "For me, music and sport are the things that will change young people's lives, and you've given us world-class facilities to make both of those things happen. And you'll always be welcome, it's just incredible; we can't thank you enough for that."
Let us know if you watched DIY SOS tonight by logging in and leaving your thoughts down below.
Click here for more TV and celebrity news.
