On Friday, June 21st Martin Johnson - who has been a self-employed builder for over 25 years - was on a roof with no worries in the world. The following day he suffered a seizure in the garden at home in Torquay, followed by another the next day. Doctors suspected Martin had suffered a mini stroke but an MRI scan revealed that he actually had a brain tumor sending his and his family’s world crashing down around them. After several biopsies, doctors diagnosed Martin with Glioblastoma - a brain tumor that affects just 3,200 people in the UK each year and is considered incurable.

 Martin’s family were told he may live for 12 months with treatment, but possibly only six without. Since the end of June, their time has been filled with appointments, scans, blood tests and biopsies, Radiotherapy and chemotherapy with Martin’s going from being fit and healthy to hardly being able to move around.

He has had to stop driving, losing his
independence, and has had to stop working, leaving him feeling guilty for
letting down clients. He can no longer get upstairs at home, so is sleeping
downstairs in the front room with little privacy.

Despite his condition, Martin tries to
go outside to enjoy his garden but often finds it too tiring to continue for long.

Martin was planning to put a new roof on the flat roof of the kitchen at the family home in Torquay as it gets cold and damp. As Martin now sleeps downstairs in the front room, his family uses the kitchen as a living area during the day and evening, making it even more important for the whole family that it is warm and dry.

Martin had also started building himself a dream gazebo, but the cedar shingles for the roof remain in the garage waiting, with him unable to finish it.

Wife Kym said: “I just want Martin to live in his dream house that he has always wanted and see some of his dream home come true before he passes. After all the hard work he and myself  have put into our house over the last three years, to see his gazebo finally finished and him able to sit under it and look into his garden would be a dream, and the new flat roof would make the his life more comfortable during the colder months, seeing as it’s where he spends a lot of his time.”

 When: The project is estimated to take place at
the end of November.

Where: Torquay

Trades Required: Flat roofers (who can lay a rubber roof), carpenters.

Get Involved!

To register your interest, please complete the form by clicking HERE, alternatively for more information please email: projects@bandofbuilders.org

You can also support the project by donating via our donation page or enthuse using the reference 'Martin’s Project'.