Wakefield family auctioning home to fund son’s medical treatment abroad

Ben Binks, 36, and his family are giving away their four-bedroom house in Ossett Wakefield, their seven-seater Range Rover Sport and Kawasaki Ninja Superbike in order to fund their move to Spain where they hope to treat his four-year-old’s brittle bones. 

Brittle bones or Osteogenesis Imperfecta occurs when there is a mutation in the gene that produces collagen. Children could inherit the mutation from a parent or it could just happen early in the pregnancy when the baby is first forming. Since these children do not have enough collagen in their bones or the collagen they have does not function properly their bones are weaker and more brittle. Sometimes it leads to abnormally shaped bones. 

The family stated Spain offers a better treatment and an exposure to natural sunlight that could help his son. On the contrary, the cold weather in the UK does not help, since in his four years of life the child has already broken his bones eight times, “one leg three times, his other leg, his arm, his ankle” – stated Ben in an interview with the Yorkshire Evening Post a few days ago. The Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (2020) corroborates that vitamin D, whose main source is sunlight, strengthens the children’s bones. 

He also commented another reason they decided to go for a giveaway as a funding method is because the house they are auctioning became theirs that way as well. Claire Reynolds and Ben Binks bought 100 raffle tickets at £1 each during the 2020 lockdown, which paid off when they won the Tate’s family auction. The auction included the house they are now auctioning, it has been revamped since then, and a 2017 Volvo XC90 Hybrid car, the occasion being relocating Kathy and Dale’s family to Australia in September of that year.  

Binks explained that the aforementioned auction changed their lives and hopes he can do the same for someone else. Binks and Reynolds lived apart before winning the house in 2020 due to the lack of space in her previous home. They stated back in 2020 to the Wakefield Express that winning was a “dream come true” and that they would “really want to be able to help someone else […] maybe offer a car to someone or some money”.

Two years later, while improving their son’s quality of life they might also change someone else’s lives with their auction, including other children who also suffer from the same disease. The 36-year-old father added that any additional money that they collect from the auction and will not be used for their move will go to the Brittle Bones Society, the national charity for the condition that his son suffers from.

Those wishing to participate in the raffle can find the link for the Raffall website on their instagram under the handle @winourhomecarandbike, where tickets can be found at £2. The auction finalises on the 30th of September. Currently, there have been around 300,000 tickets sold.

Local Store and Charity seeking clothing donations for their Winter Clothes Drive

The Zip yard, based in Chapel Allerton, alongside Leeds’ charity Homeless Street Angeles have decided to team up and launch a winter clothes drive for people on the streets who struggle to make ends meet, so they can be warm this winter.

The UK tailoring franchise, which has become the country’s largest professional tailoring network with currently 27 stores nationwide, joined the Local Fundraiser of the Year winner at the Yorkshire Choice Awards in 2019 on their mission to help homeless and marginalised people change their lives, by offering them opportunities with which they can achieve their full potential. 

This partnership encourages both customers of The Zip Yard and local residents to drop off their unwanted warm winter clothes at the city local store for distribution via the charity. The clothing alterations business is offering their seamstresses skills to repair any donated items free of charge. 

Neluka Dunning, the businesswoman owner of Chapel Allerton-based store expressed their feelings on giving back to the community: […]The very nature of our business means people are always bringing in their clothes for repairs and alterations. As part of the Winter Clothes Drive with Homeless Street Angels, we’re offering our services to repair items brought in by the public so that they are all in good condition to go on and keep people warm in the continuing cold weather [since] at this time of the year, lots of people are having wardrobe clear outs and replacing older items with new ones received at Christmas or bought in the sales, so it’s the perfect time to drop off coats, hats, thermals, gloves and thick winter jumpers.” 

She also conveyed their gratitude towards their partner and stated: “We’re looking forward to helping them distribute donations”. This gratitude is reciprocated, as the co-founder and director of Leeds Homeless Street Angels, Shelley Joyce, also spoke very highly of the support the local store has given them. 

“Support from local businesses like The Zip Yard is incredible for us, and the winter clothes drive will give individuals the opportunity to give otherwise unused items that might have gone to landfill or charity shops straight to our clients who need them right now. It’s a brilliant initiative and we hope people will utilise The Zip Yard drop off point when they are clearing out their wardrobes.”

Furthermore, Joyce highlighted the importance of donations during Covid times: “Winter is a particularly difficult time for those living on the streets – the temperature often dips below freezing and Covid has meant there are less people out and about who might have previously gifted items or provided warm drinks.”

Those wishing to donate items can drop them off at The Zip Yard Chapel Allerton store, Chapel Allerton House, 114a Harrogate Rd, Leeds LS7 4NY.