Sheffield school leads heartwarming project to rebuild cleaner’s home destroyed by fire

Hinde House Secondary School said its secondary phase principal Munif Zia is helping 56-year-old Joy Needham, who works at the school as a cleaner, to return to her home of 35 years.

On May 25 at around 1am, Joy, who was living alone, was awakened by thick smoke but she managed to make an escape as the fire ravaged her home.

On June 17, Mr Zia said the showroom manager at the B&Q on Penistone Road has agreed to support and assist him to rebuild the home for Joy.

In a Facebook post, the school wrote: "Mr Zia, Principal at Hinde House 2-16 Academy would like to praise the great support demonstrated by Rob Wild, Showroom Manager at B&Q Penistone Road, Sheffield who has kindly agreed to support and assist Mr Zia who is personally leading a community project to ensure one of our cleaners, Joy Needham, can return to her home which was completely destroyed during a house fire.

"Without this support, Joy would face the possibility of being homeless. Teaching staff at the Secondary site have kindly volunteered to assist with the project, moving forward, and Mr Wild has already made substantial donations of materials in order to get the project moving."

Mr Zia stated: "Having personally witnessed the distress Joy has suffered, I felt there was no option other than to step in.

"Without the generosity of Mr Wild and the B&Q Store who have demonstrated so much kindness and compassion, there would be no way to further this project. Thank you."

Joy's son, Phil Needham said the support that his mum has received has been "amazing."

"As a family, I know my mum is so overwhelmed by the generosity and what they have done for her."

The father-of-two said his GoFundMe page has raised over £4,000 and they have started repairing the kitchen, where the fire first started.

"We are doing everything bit by bit. First the kitchen, and then the dining room. My friends and I replaced the kitchen floor on Saturday and we'll repair the bedroom.

"We also need to completely rewire the house," he said.