A TEAM of charity workers from Okehampton have been hard at work in Bulgaria to improve the lives of orphans with special needs. The team of nine men and two women, mostly from the Okehampton area, recently travelled to the Krivnya Orphanage to undertake the second phase of the building works being carried out there by the organisation House of Rachel. Last year, the charity's building team renovated the building, putting in new windows, suspended ceilings, lighting, and laminate flooring into two newly decorated classrooms, and children's bedrooms were redecorated. The communal living area was painted with bright frescos. Brand new toilets were installed, the floors were retiled and vital plumbing repairs were carried out. The hard work ensured the orphanage fought off the threat of closure. This year the main focus of the building works was to prepare two rooms which had been redundant at the orphanage school for many years, and had fallen into a state of disrepair. One room will be a soft play room, the other a sensory room, a special room designed to develop the senses, usually through special lighting, music and objects. It can be used as a therapy for children with limited communication skills. The building team arrived in Krivnya on June 6, and went straight to the site to plan the week's work schedule. The first decision was to take down two partition walls to create extra space in the two rooms to be turned into soft play and sensory areas. This decision had the knock on effect of making the job much bigger. Over the course of the next six days, the team hung new timbers to support a new ceiling, made good all the crumbling walls, laid new flooring and decorated both rooms. Apart from a few small jobs, the rooms are now ready to be kitted out. After a successful year of fundraising, some of the equipment for the sensory room is to be purchased, and the aim is to have the room up and running for the start of the new school year in September. The crew also managed to replace one of the old toilets. The orphanage school only has outside toilets, holes in the ground leading to a pit. The newly installed toilet brings the total number of sanitary toilets at the orphanage to five. Andrew Morgan, founder of the House of Rachel, said: 'I can clearly remember the first time I visited Krivnya with my brother, the sum total of all their play equipment was one flat football. 'The next time we visited even the football was gone and we ended up playing games with a pine cone. Now we had the opportunity to change that and radically improve the lives of these precious children. 'It's amazing to think what our small team have been able to complete. 'Several are retired, several came with no building skills, but all came with enthusiasm, an appetite for work and a deep desire to help the children. 'Before we left we planned next year's job so we already know what we will be doing in 2015. Now the hard work starts — raising the money to complete phase three. 'Our heartfelt thanks go to everyone who helped us raise the money for phase two, we couldn't do it without you.' Anyone who would like to help the vital work to change children's lives can do so by visiting http://www.houseofrachel.org">www.houseofrachel.org call Andrew Morgan on 01837 52725 or visit OK Leisure on Fore Street.