Work begins to build Bradley Lowery Foundation's holiday home for sick children in Scarborough after delay

Charity CEO Gemma Lowery, centre, COO Lynn Murphy, left, and the construction team.

Work has begun to build a charity’s new holiday home for seriously ill children in Scarborough after years of delays.

The Bradley Lowery Foundation is building a luxury holiday home for sick children next to the Scalby Manor Pub, which was formerly part of the Scalby Manor Estate.

Six-year-old Bradley died from a rare type of cancer, neuroblastoma, in 2017, having been diagnosed when he was 18-months-old.

Gemma Lowery, Bradley’s mum, has previously said Scarborough is a “very special place” for the family where “so many beautiful memories were made”.

An artist's impression of how the Bradley Lowery Foundation holiday home in Scarborough could look.

The five-bedroom home is being built on Burniston Road in Scarborough, where Bradley and his family took one of their last holidays.

Building work was initially meant to get underway in March 2020, but this was paused with the outbreak of the Covid pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

Now, contractor Bondmor has broken ground on the development’s foundations after a three-year delay.

Lynn Murphy, the charity’s chief operations officer, and Gemma Lowery visited the site in April, as work got underway.

Work on the building's foundations has begun in the last few months.

In a post to the charity’s Facebook page, Ms Lowery said: “It is all very real now, we still have a long way to go and still lots of funding needed to get it to completion.”

Ms Murphy told The Scarborough News: “Since Covid, the price of materials has increased significantly, so we are continuing to fundraise. With support from local builders’ merchants, we have been offered materials at cost.”

Plans were approved, subject to conditions, by Scarborough Borough Council in 2019, which also gifted a parcel of land in 2018, that was previously used for grazing, to the charity for the project.

The holiday home comprises two accommodation blocks; an ‘L-shaped’ open-plan kitchen, dining and living area and a detached ‘summer room’.

It includes five double bedrooms, an enclosed barbecue terrace, a hot tub, playrooms for children, a gym, a surrounding wildflower meadow and parking for four vehicles.

Bradley’s plight and treatment made national news after he struck up a close friendship with footballer Jermain Defoe at his beloved club Sunderland, who have contributed funding towards the development.

When complete, Super Brad’s Pad will allow other seriously ill children and their families to enjoy a break at the seaside.