Air conditioning giveaway changes everything for a Leamington Spa family

A mum from Leamington Spa says an air conditioning installation, won through our summer giveaway, has transformed her teenage daughter’s life — just days after it was fitted by our team.

A hidden struggle with the heat

Her daughter has complex autism and sensory needs. Heat can trigger sensory overload, and last summer it took a real toll — affecting her sleep, her eating, and her ability to learn. She receives her education in the home, so the home environment is effectively her classroom. Factors such as temperature, lighting and noise have a direct impact on her wellbeing, concentration and ability to learn, making the air conditioning genuinely life-changing.

With no support available through local health or council services, her mum never imagined air conditioning would be within reach for their family. So when the system was fitted, she wasn’t prepared for how quickly things would change.

“It has honestly been life-changing,” she told us. “Within two days she was sleeping properly again, eating well, and back to her online lessons. I can’t put into words what that means for us.”

Thirteen nominations, one winner

This summer, we ran a giveaway offering up to £4,500 towards installation of a domestic air conditioning system, to a family in Leamington Spa. Every nomination came from someone other than the family themselves — friends, carers, and support workers who knew what a difference it could make. In total, we received 13 nominations.

The winning family was put forward by a support worker who understood their situation first-hand. At their request, we’re not sharing their identity, given their daughter’s complex medical needs.

Our engineers completed the installation, and we’ve promised the family a free service next year to help keep it running smoothly.

Why we did it

Lincoln Smith, Managing Director at Custom Heat & Cool, said choosing a winner was genuinely difficult.

“There were so many families who needed help, it was a really hard decision,” he said. “We’re seeing more and more homes needing help with cooling as summers get hotter. For some families that’s not just about comfort — it can make a real difference to their day-to-day life. We’re really pleased to see the difference it’s made for this family so quickly. That’s exactly why we did this.”

Not the first time — and not the last

This isn’t the first time we’ve stepped in for a family in need. A few years ago, we fitted an air conditioning system free of charge for a young boy in Warwick who’d suffered severe burns as a toddler, after discovering that heat was causing him significant pain summer after summer.

We hope this story helps shine a light on the challenges faced by families supporting children with complex additional needs, particularly when the temperature rises.