November 2014

Crossley Park’s completion in time for Remembrance Sunday

Cemex Lends A Hand

Deer Park School Extension

Archaeological Way

The Queen and Prince Phillip pay a visit to Matlock

Newbold Gardens

Treeton Score & Store Room

LifeTime Homes Update

Heaner Play Area

Boiler installed from Santa

A fun way to learn Science

Creswell, Ashfield and Mansfield Newsletter

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Groundwork Creswell, Ashfield & Mansfield

With the help of Groundwork and Crestra Ltd, a fantastic excavation project to a significant focal point within Crossley Park has been completed.

Through the restoration of the parks existing features, Groundwork have created an accessible location for the bandstand, sundial and war memorial for the people of Ripley and surrounding areas to visit.

Work has been underway to widen the pathways leading to the central point, where granite sets have been laid surrounding the iconic bandstand. A new sundial has been built, along with stone plinths installed where Crossley Park’s pre-existing war memorial has been relocated to. The bandstand has also been painted to bring about the character and charm the feature deserves.

“The Crossley Park Project has moved the war memorial to a more central area within the park that will be passed daily by the general public”, says Gary Smith, Groundwork Construction Manager.

Renovated focal point for Crossley Park

The funding of the project was provided by Amber Valley Borough Council who, with the help of Groundwork’s Construction team, were able to have the project completed and open for the public to visit by Remembrance Sunday.

“Our vision is to see a society of sustainable communities

which are vibrant, healthy and safe, which respect the local and global environment and

where individuals and enterprise prosper”

“Changing places, changing lives...one green step at a time”

Extension project at Deer Park Primary SchoolFollowing the extension of Auckley School, Groundwork and Crestra Ltd have secured work of a similiar nature on another local primary school.

Deer Park Primary School, located in Wingerworth, Chesterfield, have requested the help of our construction team in the expansion of their building.

After seeing the results of Auckley School, planning has taken place to create male, female and disabled toilets for the use of staff, pupils and visitors.

The construction team began on site late November, so watch this space for the project photographs in our next Newsletter!

Cemex Lends A Hand

The involvement of Cemex staff was arranged by Works Manager Terrence Clair, as part of the companies ‘Lend a Hand’ community scheme. He said “employees from Cemex were happy to be involved in the maintenance of Pennytown Ponds. Cemex have run the ‘Lend a Hand’ scheme for a few years now, it is designed to put something back into the local community”.

Gary Wain, Environmental Sustainability Coordinator & Community Wildspace Officer

During early September staff from Cemex Rail Products, located on Cotes Park Industrial Estate Somercotes, helped with haymaking at Pennytown Ponds Local Nature Reserve.

This important reserve is managed by Groundwork on behalf of Amber Valley Borough Council under a Service Level Agreement. Practical tasks are arranged throughout the year and Groundwork are helped to carry out the work by local people involved with the active Friends Of Group.

On Monday 1st September, five staff from Cemex helped myself, Gary Wain, to mow the two meadows and used brush-cutters to cut back brambles and other vegetation that were encroaching on the main path through the reserve. On Friday 5th September three more Cemex employees assisted in raking up and removing the mown grass from the meadows, as well as trimming back re-generating Ash saplings.

Archaeological Way Work CompleteGroundwork and Crestra Ltd have contributed to the improvements made to access routes and public pathways in and around Shirebrook town centre. A survey undertaken by the Bolsover Countryside Partnership found issues regarding potentially dangerous crossings, lack of connecting routes to key heritage and archaeological features in the surrounding area, and problems with cycle routes and disability access.

Groundwork have been responsible for sections 18-24 of the large scale project, which constitutes Shirebrook town centre. The tarmac paths, soft landscaping and redevelopment has improved disability access, updated pelican crossing facilities, and provided safe public footpath and cycle routes to connect local points of interest.

Thursday the 10th of July was a very important date for Matlock. The Queen and Prince Phillip arrived by rail for a royal visit, where they then travelled through Crown Square on their way to Smedley’s Mill at Lea Bridge.

Their visit was celebrated by Matlock Town Council, who will remember this day through the creation of a mosaic. Groundwork’s Gary Wain was asked to work with the conservation volunteers and the Denefields rangers to run a community mosaic workshop throughout the day.

Gary regularly works with Matlock Town Council, managing a number of local nature reserves

and other sites, as part of a long standing service level agreement with them.

The mosaic was designed by Hannah, a local art student, and depicts the crown in coloured tiles.

On the morning of the visit, Hall Leys Park was packed with excited people, both locals and tourists. 52 adults and 35 children visited the workshop during the morning to work alongside the volunteers to help create the mosaic. Representatives from two local schools; St. Giles and Bonsall Primary School also visited and helped. Both the visit and the event were a great success. The roads were

crowded with people as the Queen drove by, twice, and everybody enjoyed the atmosphere.

The finishing touches are being added to the mosaic by members of the conservation volunteer team, and the completed piece will be displayed in Hillside Park, Matlock.

The team that created the mosaic have received copies of a thank you letter written by William Tucker, HM Lord-Lieutenant of Derbyshire.

Gary Wain, Environmental Sustainability

Coordinator & Community Wildspace Officer

A Mosaic fit for the Queen

Newbold Gardens opened by MayorGroundwork have been involved in the transformation of a derelict piece of land in Newbold, Chesterfield coordinated by Dunston and Moor Residents and Tenants Association.

3 local schools have made the development happen, with Newbold School designing what are now community gardens located at the back of Wimborne Crescent Community Room. They begun the project and were then joined by Tibshelf School to complete the planting. Springwell School are now putting the final touches to the gardens, which were opened by the Mayor of Chesterfield, Alexis Diouf, in September 2014.

Within an article of the Derbyshire Times, it was stated “the garden will be enjoyed by residents of the adjacent bungalows and community groups”.

Improved facilities for Treeton Cricket Club

Treeton Memorial Community Centre and Playing Fields have secured funding from Sport England for a £50,000 building project to take place.

The development will see a ground floor store room, first floor score room and electronic scoreboard being built, providing improved facilities for the Treeton Cricket Club.

Groundwork’s Construction team commenced work in October 2014, with the building work of the detached property now well underway and the roof currently being installed.

The construction will be made up of block work and external render finish, and a window in the roof.

“The construction of the new store and score room has enabled Treeton Cricket Club to remove old, unsightly steel containers from the site. The electronic scoreboard will allow spectators to view the score throughout the game from positions around the ground”, says Gary Smith, Groundwork Construction Manager.

Completion is estimated to be late January to early February 2015.

Update on LifeTime HomesGroundwork’s Construction team have been on site with local apprentices to complete the building of two properties as part of the ‘LifeTime Homes Project’.

Since the last update in our Summer newsletter when the construction work had just begun, Plot 1 is almost complete with only the installation of the kitchen and bathroom left to do, and Plot 2 is 75% finished with internal work outstanding.

Although to date no sales have been made, there has been a lot of interest in the 2 bungalows, which are for sale with estage agents Wilkins Vardy. The properties have had over 1500 hits on their website and have 2 open days in early December.

For more information or interest to purchase please contact Wilkins Vardy on 01246 270123 or email info@wilkins-vardy.co.uk

New play area for children of Heaner...

Crestra have won a tender to improve an existing children’s park on Hands Road, Heaner, which will involve both the Design and Build Team within the Groundwork Trust.

The completed scheme will provide an upgraded and safer area for the children to play in.

The regeneration project will consist of relocating and removing some of the existing play equipment, as well as installing additional play apparatus. The current chipped bark ground covering will be replaced by raised safety matting, creating a refreshing new place for local families to use.

Groundwork has the project well underway and it is expected that the Hands Road play area will be completed any day now.

Boiler installed from Santa!Groundwork Creswell, Ashfield and Mansfield have helped in making a significant improvement to one little girl’s Christmas. We were approached by Rykneld Homes to see if we could assist with a very important project, who required us, as a charity, to take donations for the cause.

A local 3 year old little girl thought she’d be unable to spend her Christmas at home, until the help of Groundwork and others came along. The lack of adequate heating in her home meant she would have been forced to spend winter in hospital this year. The child has cancer and her father has taken a break from work to care for her. Out of work and illegible for grant funding, this little girl’s father has been unable to complete the work of installing a new boiler, central heating and loft insulation in their home.

So when Glow Worm donated a boiler, Honeywell donated electrical components, the Wolseley Group donated the plumbing materials required and our subcontractors AB Heating and DM Electrical donated their labour, the necessary improvements to their home were made. Through installing the heating system, this fantastic scheme has meant the little girl can now spend Christmas at home!

Groundwork have the responsibility to raise donations through advertisement, in which an anonymous instigator of the initial scheme said he will match the total after a month of fundraising. So far £100 has been raised, but we want to see this figure increase with your help please!

Donations will be given to the family to cover the fuel costs to run the heating system, and can be made by either cash or cheque, payable to Groundwork Creswell, Ashfield and Mansfield.

An exciting way to learn science...During the last week of November, an exciting educational event took place at The Trinity Arts Cen-tre in Gainsborough. Cheltenham Festivals presented a spectacular science experience for children called ‘LabLive’, in which local schools were encouraged to attend, free of charge.

The day was sponsored by EDF Energy, who invited local schools to bring along their Key Stage 3 pupils to experience a fun, practical and unusual science lesson. The two speakers, Simon Watt and Nic Harrigan, engaged with the pupils in a way that caught their imagination and encouraged involvement.

Firstly, biologist Simon Watt discussed ‘Ugly Animals’ and how important, yet endangered they are. This was demonstrated in the form of challenges that the audience were keen to be a part of. Secondly, Nic Harrigan wowed the school kids – and even teachers! - with fascinating experiments which he carried out in his virtual home. Who’d of known something as simple as a dustbin can blow smoke rings and items like a bar of soap and a lightbulb can do such amazing things!

Year 8 pupils from Orchard School, Newark Academy, St. Giles School, South Axholme School and Gainsborough Academy attended the morning session and in the afternoon the Queen Elizabeth High School and Priory Academy visited the power station for their ‘LabLive’ experience.

The Stemnet Ambassadors supported staff at the Arts Centre to host seven local schools and nearly 400 places were filled. Groundwork’s Maddy Holroyd was one of these ambassadors and is part of a national organisation working with schools and the study of science.

EDF Energy and their discovery centre host a wide range of similar activity days. Events such as this are organised by Groundwork’s Community Project Officer, Maddy Holroyd, who is based at West Burton’s Power Station and works closely with EDF Energy. Maddy has a passion for education and works alongside EDF who sponsor educational and scientific open days and activities for children to be involved in. The spectrum of topics Maddy can cover can be anything from electricity, rivers, scientific forces, light & dark, climate change, recycling and sustainability...just to name a few!

The educational activity days can be suited to all ages, whether it be young school children, youth groups or interest groups and are hosted free of charge, together with a 25% discount on school transport.

Maddy’s open days really are a fun way for children and young adults to learn about science in an exciting and practical way, with fantastic facilities for all.

For more information regarding upcoming events, please contact Maddy Holroyd on 07720 553734 or email maddy.holroyd@edfenergy.com

Key Groundwork contacts...

Trevor WittsManaging Director GCAM/Crestra Ltd

Specific enquiries to:

Caralynn Gale Education, Training and Skills

Gary SmithConstruction, Housing and Landscape

Lauren StrawMarketing, Community and Support

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E-mail: creswell@groundwork.org.uk

Websites: groundwork.org.uk/creswell crestra.co.uk crestrasolar.co.uk

Head office:96 Creswell RoadClowneChesterfieldDerbyshire S43 4NATel: 01246 570977Fax: 01246 813200

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