Retired engineer Walter Delacoe began making toys after heart surgery forced him to give up work and his passion for fixing motorbikes and cars.
Since his first doll’s house back in 1987, the 85-year-old from Norris Green estimates he has built hundreds, all donated to children and hospitals on Merseyside.
In 26 years he has spent countless hours in the purpose-built workshop at the bottom of his garden, but never earned a penny for his creations.
“I never thought about it as a way to make money because I was born on Scotland Road so I knew what it was like to be a child not having anything,” he explained. “That’s why I didn’t want to make them for wealthy people who could afford them, I wanted them to go to children who needed them.”
Walter, who worked for 35 years with ICI, was nominated to become an ECHO Everyday Hero by Hannah Back at personal emergency alarm company Lifeline.
She felt his creative talents, especially used to cheer up children with disabilities and illnesses, deserved recognition.
The former Royal and Merchant Navy seaman is modest about his efforts, although he is proud of all the many toys he has made over the years.
“I started when my wife Helena died suddenly of a heart attack,” he said.
“I had just had open heart surgery in Liverpool and London myself, then within a week she died. I needed something to get over losing her, something to focus on, and the consultant wasn’t very pleased about me doing the car and bike maintenance so I had to find something else.
“Our three boys, Walter, Michael and Peter, were grown up and working by then, but I thought I could do this for other children.”
Many of Walter’s dolls’ houses, rocking horses, pull-along toys and trains have gone to children’s hospice Zoe’s Place in West Derby, while others go to children whose parents contact him directly.
“I don’t know 95% of the people who get the things I make and I never get to meet the children, but I’m just glad they go to a good home,” he added.
Walter built a concrete garage in his garden when his toy making outgrew his old wooden shed and he used to spend every day in there surrounded by his power tools. Having had an ICD (implantable cardioverter defibrillator) fitted he has had to slow down a little, although he is reluctant to stop.
“I’m not supposed to be doing too much at the moment,” he admitted, “but I still go down to my shed whenever I can.”
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