Community Den - Part 1 The Dengineers

-I'm Lauren.

-I'm Joe

-And this is The Dengineers.

The show that puts you in charge of building your very own dream den.

Dens for adventure...

It's a secret door!

Hanging out with your friends and family...

..and dens built to fulfil your dreams.

It's amazing. Thank you so much.

Whatever your idea, the Dengineers team are here to

transform your inspiration into amazing spaces.

Built especially for you.

The den is done!

Merry Christmas!

Welcome to a very special episode of The Dengineers.

Yes, today we're at a children's hospice on the Wirral

to surprise a group of children with the news that they're going

to get the den of their dreams.

And strap yourself in because this is going to be

our biggest build yet!

Today's Dengineers are the amazing folk of Claire House

Children's Hospice, a Children in Need supported project.

Dengineers, we really need your help to build us

an awesome den for our new hospice.

Where we can make lasting memories with our friends and families.

A hospice is a place that provides care for children with

life-limiting conditions and their families.

Ready, Hol?

A big part of what

we do is supporting the family

and that's really important for brothers and sisters.

There's one, Shea.

That support carries on, sadly, when a child dies.

Providing care afterwards is so important.

We used to come to the pool and we've got videos of Ellie

and Mia having fun.

They're memories that are just so important to us.

Mia's sister Ellie spent a lot of time here before she sadly died

when Mia was three and the hospice has played a huge role in helping

her deal with the loss of her sister.

She can speak to kids who have gone through the same things

and you can see the fun they have.

It's quite a lonely place if your brother or sister has died

and the hospice really helps them.

You can see that they grow up and it's not a scary thing.

The hospice is opening a brand-new site in Liverpool so they can

reach even more seriously ill children and their families.

And it just so happens there's an area around the back that is

perfect for a dream den.

The work that we do with these families is all about creating

memories that last a lifetime.

If we could make a den outside for all the children

and their brothers and sisters, it would be absolutely brilliant.

These guys really need our help, Joe.

And that's exactly what they're going to get,

they just don't know it yet.

For today's hit, we've come to hospice HQ

and our merry band of Dengineers have been busy

fitting their super-spying hidden cameras all over the place.

-I'm a bit nervous.

-I'm excited.

Our Dengineers have started to arrive at the hospice

and Loz and I have the perfect watch-out spot just above reception.

There's a lot of them, isn't there?

There's parents, siblings...

Ooh.

OK, thumbs up. Come on.

Everyone is in position, time to deliver the amazing news.

-Sorry, sorry. Hello, hello, everybody.

-Hi.

So we've got a little bit of a surprise for you this morning.

Actually, it's a massive surprise. My name is Joe.

And my name is Lauren.

And we're from CBBC's The Dengineers.

CHEERING

Now, we've heard that there's a second hospice site being

built over in Liverpool and you guys are going to need a space

where you can play with each other, where you can relax

-and you can all hang out, does that sound right?

-Yeah.

The good news is that's exactly what you're going to get.

THEY CHEER

Not just that, it's going to be the biggest den we've ever built.

I was like so surprised, I was like this...

I'm so excited, and it's basically been my dream to build a den.

-Who's up for a bit of hard work as well?

-Me!

-Are you sure?

-Yeah.

I'm excited about when we make the den.

It'll be fun to build it with all our mates.

There's very few places that children who've got complex

health care needs, in wheelchairs can play together with

their brothers and sisters. So to be able to do that will be brilliant.

It's lovely to meet you, Shea.

I'm really happy, I'm really happy.

It's going to give opportunity for kids and siblings and mums

and dads to have memories which are more important than anything.

Our first port of call is the Dengineers' mobile HQ which has some

mega cool technology to get this den rolling.

And it's Ruby, Mia and Liam

who are representing the hospice Dengineers.

Now you all use the hospice in different ways

so you're like the best people to have in here to tell us

what you're going to need from the den.

You guys are in charge here.

We're going to take all those ideas that you've got buzzing around,

get them onto this massive screen

and we can work out how we're going to make this ginormous den.

Have a little look, see what you like.

This so that you can chillax in there, like.

Wow, lovely use of chillax.

I like the disco one there.

That does look amazing, doesn't it?

So like a party room maybe.

I love the idea of a dance and boogie. Guaranteed fun.

I think this because it represents family.

It's like important to have memories with your family.

Why are memories important to you?

I lost my sister a few years ago and I always think of her

when I'm at Claire House and have fun times.

That's what it's all about, isn't it?

Remembering the really nice times you had together.

What do we think it might look like?

Could have like a treehouse?

Great stuff, tell us about this picture?

It's a boy and he donated his treehouse

so that families could enjoy it too.

And his name's Carson.

That's amazing, so maybe that's something

we could incorporate into the den.

Liam, what are you into that you'd quite like to see in the den?

-Cars.

-Ah, you like a bit of speed do you, Liam?

-Yeah.

How can we incorporate speed or something into the den?

-A zip wire.

-Zip line.

You could have a zip wire through the whole den?

And it could be for disabled people as well.

-That would be so cool!

-Wow.

Dengineers Ruby, Mia and Liam have decided on a tree house theme

for the hospice mega den, with areas to party,

chill and make amazing memories with their friends and family.

Oh, and they'd love an exhilarating zip line too.

But who will make our Dengineers' dreams a reality?

Meet Sege.

With over 30 years in the building biz,

he's perfect to take on

our biggest den ever.

But for this beast, Sege is going to need help so he's drafted in

fellow designers Olga, Maral and Tony and Satwinder to help out.

Now, I know all your Dengineers couldn't be here today

but I'm going to explain the den to you so you can go away

-and tell all your friends, yeah?

-OK.

I think we should create a bit of a village that's all

-up in the air, on stilts. Does that sound good?

-Yeah.

I've designed these places where you can all go

and hang out, all your parents and your friends and your siblings

and just have a lot of fun in your own little wonderland.

-Yeah.

-You all like to communicate in different ways, don't you?

We use sign language and use our eyes to communicate.

Well, I've got a surprise for you.

There is a special part of the den

where you can all communicate, all together.

It's just going to be fantastic and I think you're going to love it.

-And how about a zip line?

-Yeah.

And wouldn't it be good

-if I could get you in there with your chair, Liam?

-Mmm.

I think that's very, very doable.

What do you think to the designs?

-Amazing.

-Really?!

-Brilliant.

So, am I good to go then?

-Is this the sign off, can I get started?

-Yeah.

Fantastic, I can't wait.

Sege's plans for our biggest den ever have been given

the stamp of approval from the Dengineers.

He's designed a treehouse-inspired village, including places to

communicate, party and chill out with friends and family.

As if that wasn't huge enough, Sege has also designed a zip line

which is accessible for every child at the hospice and a happy path

which will contain hundreds of happy memories sent in by CBBC viewers.

I didn't think it was going to be that good

and I'm really looking forward to building it.

This is a fantastically big den,

it's the biggest build we've ever had to attempt on the Dengineers.

It's going to mean so much to the kids

so it's really, really important that we pull this off.

Plans signed off, the team start preparing the hospice ground

for this colossal build

and I get together a group of Dengineers to help

with a spot of housekeeping.

Jan, Lesley, you are both wonderful, we love you very much

but we've got a message for you. You ready, everybody?

Three, two, one...

Get out! Dengineers only!

And you haven't got a T-shirt, so see you later. Bye.

-We've got to go.

-We still love you, bye-bye.

I'm really, really excited about it.

Although a bit nerve-racking to hand over the control,

it's going to be amazing.

For our families, time is precious so having a den like this

outside our hospice, what more could you ask?

For this build, Sege is planning to raise the entire

den off the ground using 170 logs.

We have got to shift all of those logs over there.

-Are you up for it?

-Yeah!

-Yes!

These logs are needed all over the site to be put

into the hundreds of holes created by the Dengineers' digger.

OK. Wow, that's a lot of log.

That's very heavy.

Yes, OK.

That's it everyone.

I do this stuff all the time.

No, you don't, you can tell you don't.

If you placed all 170 logs on top of each other,

they'd be roughly the same height as three Big Bens!

It's just weird because I'm in the gym all the time.

-Really?

-Joe was terrible at lifting them and he lies,

he says he goes to the gym but you could tell he doesn't.

Has it got to be like high, can we just like,

do a normal one on the floor?

No?

Whilst Joe and co take a well-earned break, the rest of the team

push on and get all the logs set into the ground.

With the ground ready, it's time for the rest of the Dengineers'

team to arrive, and they arrive with roughly 3,000 metres of timber.

If you laid this timber on top of each other it would be the

same height as 1,687 Seges head to toe.

This is the biggest den we've ever done, it's huge.

My worry is I may have gone too big because

when you think about the amount of time we've got to do this in

compared to the amount of work we've got to do, I am more than worried.

Hold that tight for me, Puds.

The Dengineers have well and truly moved in

and Sege has a task that needs some immediate attention.

One of the biggest jobs we've got to do this morning is chainsaw

all of these stumps down to a certain height,

so it's very important we get them almost millimetre perfect.

If we get the calculations wrong and cut the posts too short

we have a problem, which would give me so much grief it's unreal.

Whilst Dengineer Derrick gets stuck in carefully cutting down the

stumps, our Dengineers help me make some refreshments for the team.

Instead of just boring old water, how about we make some fruity water?

-Yeah!

-The man in charge,

it's Sege the Ledge - what kind of fruit would he have?

Cucumber? Because he's tall and thin.

Sege and that looks exactly the same to me.

There are around 50 people working on site

so the Dengineers carry on making lots of fruity drinks...

..and I catch up with Leyton

who has a special connection to this treehouse theme.

My little brother Carson had a treehouse.

Carson was energetic, happy

and he always loved everyone.

Leyton's brother Carson was very ill

and spent lots of time receiving care at the hospice.

It was a nice place to stay.

It was comfortable for Carson,

there was lots of different rooms where he could play and have fun.

When Carson got quite poorly, what was one of the things that he

-really wanted.

-He wanted a treehouse.

And that's exactly what you got for him, didn't you?

What was the treehouse like?

It was quite big and he'd play games and relax and read books.

I used to read him books, it was special.

The time came for Carson to move to the Wirral hospice full time

and his awesome treehouse came with him.

Carson sadly died shortly after,

but his treehouse is still there

for other children to enjoy as much as he did.

They like to play and hang out with friends

and they like to just get away from everyone

if they're feeling upset or unhappy and that's really special.

The Dengineers' drink break has done the job and the refreshed team

start to construct the steel frames for the den's amazing zip wire.

A part of the den which has given our Sege

a bit of an engineering headache.

It's very important that this zip wire is accessible to

everyone at the hospice, so we've had to create a basket-shaped cradle

so that the wheelchair can go on and their carer.

It must give you a few engineering challenges.

This is the first time I've ever worked with a zip wire

and I've learnt a lot.

Your regular zip wire has just one cable on it, doesn't it? OK.

Let me just show you first how a zip wire on one cable works.

-OK.

-So if you just care to take that end.

-Imagine this is one person. If I send one fella down...

-Yeah.

-..that's how that works.

-That was intense.

-But watch this. This is the cradle.

-It's the basket?

-Yes. So keep it nice and tight. Watch what happens.

-Nightmare.

-Not good and do you know why it's not good?

-Why?

-Look how that is tipping.

-It's not even, is it?

It's not even. So anybody in the cradle is going to fall out.

So how have you solved that problem?

-On this zip line...

-Yeah.

..we're using two, two cables.

I think this is one of the first times this has been done.

-Now watch this.

-Yeah.

So do the same again, Joe, keep it nice and tight, go a bit lower.

-Like that?

-OK.

-Look at that?

-How good is that?

That's like the best zip line ever and everybody here can enjoy it.

This zip has been designed with two wires instead of the usual

one wire system to help spread the weight and balance the cradle.

For an added bit of engineering wow,

there's a special pneumatic brake at the end of the zip which reacts

and adjusts to whatever weight is inside the cradle,

allowing for smooth stopping no matter how many people are in there.

Back on site and Dengineer Derek has worked his socks off to

finish cutting all the logs down to size.

Despite the great start, the reality of the huge

scale of this build has really hit home with Sege.

I'm really, really concerned that I really have bitten off more

than I can chew on this one.

I've promised these kids that they're going to get this den

and I've got to deliver.

It's day two of our gigantic build in Liverpool

and after a quick site inspection from Dengineers Mia and Ruby...

This is amazing.

That can be for wheelchairs as well, they can get up it.

..it's time to welcome another top designer onto site.

-Hi, Olga.

-Hi, you OK?

-Yeah, you?

What I've done is called in the other designers as well to

give me a hand on this and I've got Olga doing the party zone.

She understands fun, this is her all over.

Olga's designed the perfect party zone where our Dengineers can

customise the whole space to celebrate any occasion they want.

Birthdays, discos, even a VIP space to spend time with their family

and friends, they are the boss of this place.

The walls of the Party Zone are currently being constructed

but things aren't moving fast enough for Sege.

We are really, really struggling at the moment.

It's looking like I might need to get some extra help.

Whilst Sege calls in the reinforcements,

Olga needs the Dengineers' help away from the den with an awesome

upcycle using some lollipop sticks.

I've designed a section of your Party Zone where you can

-dress up, take pictures, have loads of fun.

-Wow.

So what we're going to do, we're going to use these lollipop

sticks and turn them into props that you can put in front of your face.

So today, I quite fancy having a beard and a tie.

-What do you think, does it suit me?

-Yeah.

Dengineers George and Ava pick some fun stencils...

-I want to do a bow tie, please.

-A bow tie for you.

-Beard.

..and then draw around them on some card and cut them out.

I think the Party Zone is going to be so important to people

because if something's just happened close to them,

they can just go in there and have a good time and not be in a mood.

You all deserve it so much and you're going to have

a lovely time there with all your friends and family.

Props cut out, it's time for our Dengineers to decorate them

and add a splash of personal style.

-Shall we show it? Is that looking good?

-Yeah.

Would you like a tie? There's some glasses for you.

Here we go, smile!

The extra Dengineers have arrived on site and are getting stuck in

and away from the den, Ruby and Mia have a surprise for designer Sege.

So we heard that you're a dancing fan, is that right?

Yes, I am a dancing fan. Yeah, I love dancing.

-Well, you're going to like this. Come in, guys.

-Oh!

Yes!

-How are you?

-Come on!

How are you? You don't know how much I wanted to meet...

Oh, this is my dream come true!

CBBC legend Ore Oduba won Strictly Come Dancing in 2016

and Karen Clifton reached the final with Mark Wright in 2014

so these guys are perfect to teach our Sege

some awesome jive kicks and flicks.

So you have one, two, three, four, switch.

One, two, three, four.

One, two, one, two.

-One, two, three, four.

-OK.

Come on, let's try it together.

Five, six, seven, go...

THEY COUNT OUT STEPS

Yes!

-That's not bad.

-That's really good.

I can't tell you how excited I am.

I love dancing and if I wasn't a den builder, I'd love to be a dancer.

-What about if our Dengineers got involved?

-Brilliant idea.

Five, six, seven and...

THEY COUNT OUT STEPS

That was excellent, guys.

Sege is bossing the jive moves, but it's not me he needs to impress.

It's Ruby, Ava, Mia and George.

Dancing the jive, it's Karen and Sege.

Go!

The judges' scores are in.

A-mazing.

Oh, what?! Ten?

Fabulous.

Fantastic, thank you. Oh, that's brilliant.

-It's a ten from Len.

-Ten!

I didn't like it, I loved it!

THEY CHEER

What they said.

THEY CHEER AND LAUGH

This is my best day ever! Dancing with Karen has been special,

it's been better than Christmas as far as I'm concerned.

I thought that Sege was incredible.

Here's a guy who's ready to take to the Strictly Ballroom

dance floor, he's on it.

I want him to be my partner.

Over on site, the team have been working hard all afternoon

and it's time to pack up for the day.

And I'm heading off-site to see what everyday life

is like for Dengineer sisters Ruby and 15-year-old Holly.

So this is a suction machine and when Holly coughs, we use it

to clear her throat out, but we're not allowed to get this dirty

because it might infect her throat and she'll have to go to hospital.

That's just for a cough, something that's so small for us

is such a big and dangerous part of her life.

This is a sats monitor and it checks Holly's heart and her oxygen level.

If it beeps, it means she needs to go on more oxygen.

-And you look out for that?

-Yeah.

So this is the tube that has oxygen in so if someone steps on it,

it like cuts off her oxygen so we really need to be careful of this.

Don't put it anywhere near me,

take the oxygen away and I won't break it, I promise.

Holly's condition means she can't walk, talk or eat.

But that doesn't stop her communicating with her friends

and family.

I normally stroke her hand, talk to her

and she communicates with her eyes.

Holly's feeling OK now, she's kind of relaxed, she might go to sleep.

-You must be the closest sisters in the world then.

-Yeah.

You can communicate without even talking.

Ruby does so much to help care for her sister

and I want to find out more about this from Mum.

I don't think I've ever met anybody like Ruby.

The carer aspect of their relationship,

is that something that has just developed naturally?

That's just her as a person.

She asks to do these highly

medically skilled

interventions all the time.

The beauty of it is that she doesn't see it as a responsibility,

she sees it as just being with her sister. They are best friends.

The hospice is such a big part of your life, do you think having

the den is going to really improve the quality of life that

Holly's got and you have as a family?

I am always thinking that one day

I'm not going to have Holly with me...

But I'm always going to have the den there

and I'm going to have these special memories that will mean more to me

than anything I can't really put into words how amazing

this is going to be for us as a family.

-Give me a cuddle.

-I know.

Our Dengineers have been working really hard

so I'm giving them a break from the build to come to this

forest in North Wales which is home to some awesome adventures.

And first up today is the Alpine Coaster, a high-speed

toboggan that runs on rails through a super windy, woodland trail.

-Is it scary?

-A little bit.

And for one Dengineer, going on this ride is a big deal.

-Liam, you're up first, you up for it?

-Yeah.

Liam's condition means he spends most of his time in a wheelchair

and as a result he's never been on a rollercoaster before.

Good luck, guys, see you in a bit!

What will it mean to Liam to be doing this?

Aw, he loves it, he loves speed,

he doesn't get an opportunity to do anything like this.

So I'm made up we got him in.

Did you think you'd ever get to go on something like this?

-No.

-It's so exciting.

-So he's just like the others, isn't he?

Liam and healthcare support worker Alex are at the top

-of the 710-metre course.

-Here we go.

Time for Liam's first ever high-octane coaster experience.

-Come on Liam!

-He's going so fast.

LIAM WHOOPS

Did you see him come down that corner?

THEY CHEER

I've never experienced anything like that cos it was really fast.

Liam's set the super speedy pace and next up are his fellow Dengineers.

Go, go, go faster.

I've got a fly up me nose!

Finally, it's my turn to take on the Alpine Coaster.

This is so much fun!

Oh, my goodness me.

Yeah, I did it.

Tree coaster negotiated,

I join the other group of Dengineers on the towering tree-top nets,

which stand a whopping 18 metres above the forest floor.

Who can jump the highest?

Higher, higher.

Wow, trick!

Do it again.

Go! Yeah!

All this jumping has tired me out a treat so I grab

a breather with our Dengineers' mums and dads to talk

about the huge role this amazing den will play in their lives.

It's not often you get out to do stuff like this, is it?

No, very rare, because obviously Holly's care is 24 hours a day.

The hospice is caring for Holly for us today to allow us

to spend that time with Ruby, which is invaluable.

I think it's totally understandable

that Holly isn't here today but it's such a shame

and what I'm really looking forward to with the den

is that it's going to be a place that she can access

as well as all the other kids.

When you see these children and the difficulties they have

every day to deal with, to then go into a place and just be a child,

be with their siblings, to have that environment that is specially

built just for them, there's going to be nowhere else like it

and we're going to have that den in our hospice, how lucky are we?

You know, so exciting.

There's only one way to finish a brilliant day like today

and that's with a game of Dengineers versus dads dodge ball.

Go! Get them.

10 points if you get the dads.

Take them down!

Hang on, don't hurt the Dengineers, we've got a den to build.

Join us on the next part of our biggest build ever as we work

as hard as we can to get this den done in time.

It won't be easy and there'll be bumps along the way.

Whoa, whoa!

But with some top teamwork from everyone on site

and a bit of help from our CBBC chums...

You're doing a rubbish job, paint better.

..we'll do everything possible to give this hospice

the dream den they deserve.

CHEERING