THE LIVES of a Coleford family have been transformed in time for Christmas thanks to the community spirit of the Forest and an appeal backed by the Review.

Sean Tingle, who has been bed-ridden for three years after years of ill-health caused by an insect bite in the Dominican Republic in 2004, has moved into a purpose-built extension with a bedroom and wetroom at his home in The Paddocks.

Mr Tingle had been confined to a hospital bed in the living room which made normal family life difficult.

It meant that having friends and family around was difficult and daughter Amy had nowhere to play.

Family friend Jenny Roberts launched an appeal through the Review in September and the community rallied around – in particular local builder Keith Bell who took on the task of building the extension.

Mr Tingle's wife Lisa said: "We can't thank everyone enough – Keith's been amazing, Jenny started it all off, (fund-raiser) Emma Tanner has been amazing and so have all the trades that have come in.

"They've been so kind and I'll never be able to thank them enough because we've got our lives back.

"After three years of Sean being in the living room we never thought we'd have our lives back again but this Christmas is going to be absolutely brilliant.

"Amy will have a bit of room to play, Sean will have a bit of dignity and for the first time in years I'm going to have my family here for Christmas. It feels so good."

Mr Tingle said: "It's brilliant."

Work started at the beginning of October with Neville Turner of KW Bell digging by hand because it was impossible to get a mechanical digger to the rear of the house.

Mr Bell joked: "For a fitter, Neville's a pretty good groundsman."

He added: "He started here on day one with a shovel because we couldn't get a machine in.

"He has done most of the digging and the external stuff.

"A lot of the trades have done it cheaply or for nothing at all and they have put themselves out when they've been busy but they did it because of what it was."

Jenny Roberts said: "On September 2, with the support of the Review we launched a Forest DIY SOS.

"I would like to say a huge thank you to all who have donated to this cause and, in particular, the Review, Keith Bell for taking on this project and also to Emma Tanner who worked tirelessly to raise funds.

"Once again the people of the Forest have come up trumps and heartfelt thanks go to every one of them for their wonderful support."