Corby’s Pen Green delighted with garden renovation that was provided freely by a construction firm - video Dailymotion

Northants Telegraph

The team at Corby’s Pen Green have been left delighted after a construction firm kindly donated their time and resources to provide the children’s centre with a free outdoor renovation.

Transcript

00:00My name is David Rowe. I'm the project manager for Volker Fitzpatrick. We've just finished

00:07building the large distribution centres down on the A46. Part of our ethos as a business is to

00:14leave a lasting legacy within the communities that we work within. Part of it is that we want

00:18to leave a long-lasting impression and say thank you to the community for obviously

00:23being patient with us whilst we're here building and carrying out construction works.

00:27So it goes back to early 2023 whereby we were engaging with the local food bank

00:36and we were asking if there's any local charities that we can get involved with

00:40and Martin down at the food bank recommended obviously Pen Green to donate some easter eggs

00:46because we carried out an easter egg appeal in easter time 2023. So we contacted Pen Green

00:54and asked if they would like to receive some for the obviously the families in the wider community.

00:59So we brought them down, obviously relied heavily on our supply chain for donations,

01:04collected over 700 easter eggs, loaded them to the van, brought them down and they were very

01:09well received. Whilst we were here we asked if there was any further ways we can engage

01:14with the community centre and they advised yeah it would be those areas of opportunity for that.

01:23So as we left, as we further engaged throughout the year with the community centre got towards

01:29the end of 2023 and revisited here and come back to see have a meeting with the team

01:36and identified areas of development within the gardens and the way we could get involved and help

01:40out to bring this up to the standard that's required. When we arrived here was areas in

01:46need of development and a little bit of disrepair so we've relied on our supply chain.

01:50We got in contact with our supply chain to see how they could help us out and obviously donate

01:57their time and materials. It looks fantastic, the supply chain have done a fantastic job.

02:03Some members of my team have done a really great job in terms of managing it.

02:07As the Pen Green have already advised that we literally from start to finish manage the whole

02:12process and the package so the planning, the management, supply the materials and obviously

02:16executing it to what it is today and it just looks fantastic. I think given that there's

02:21children involved it's really satisfying to know that they've got somewhere now to play.

02:27Previously we touched on that obviously during Covid a lot of children were excluded from the

02:32outside environment and now they've got an area where they can play which is full of greenery,

02:37trees and activities, climbing ropes etc. So it's really really going to help them and it's great

02:45to see and it's really rewarding for us to see that end result. I just think for us really with

02:52lack of funding we have really struggled with keeping you know upkeep in the garden space and

02:58I think the outdoors is so important for particularly small children but all children really.

03:03I mean when you think about sort of their overall development their physical development is one of

03:08the prime areas that kind of underpins all their areas of learning and so we're very passionate

03:13about having an outdoor space that is a safe outdoor space for small children and so many of

03:19our children lack that in their home lives. We have a lot of children that live in flats

03:24and a lot of our children that really missed out on sort of outdoor physical spaces throughout Covid

03:29so we just we're very passionate about ensuring that the outdoor space is available to them

03:33and that it's you know that it's a rich environment as well. So I mean being able to

03:38have somebody that's willing to invest and contribute to the upkeep of the garden has just

03:42been so invaluable and the children have absolutely loved being out here we can't we

03:47can't get them back inside now. Throughout the whole process the children were really interested

03:52in watching so there was there was big metal railings all the way along but we were able to

03:55get outside but we would just be able to stand behind the railings but even the whole process

03:59of just watching that real work taking place I think it almost provided a sense of anticipation

04:04and real build-up so actually when those when those barriers were eventually removed and they

04:08were able to go and explore that they just they all charged it was they were just really excited

04:14and just so many of them there's so much to explore as well it's not just sort of one area

04:18um you know we've got the steps and things that have provided a real physical challenge now we've

04:23got a beautiful shed area down at the bottom of the garden for imaginative play the beautiful

04:27bridge area which the children really enjoy using putting the taking the bikes and things over the

04:31ramps so um so the children are just they're absolutely utilizing it and taking it to its

04:36advantage really. It'll be huge um like I said sort of in terms of children's overall development

04:42when we're thinking about the overall curriculum in planning for children the outdoor areas are

04:46really really important and their physical development is so important for even things

04:50that people don't really think of in terms of their early writing skills and things like that

04:54in order to become a writer one day you have to have real core skills um and and core strength

05:00and that that only comes from being outside and really building that in terms of whether it's

05:04riding a bike whether it's balancing whether it's negotiating steps and I think sometimes we

05:09forget those those processes that have to take place in that very early childhood and that's

05:13why outdoor spaces are so important so you know to be able to offer this to all of the children

05:18that come and attend here is just it's so invaluable for their entire development so we're

05:22just we're really really grateful to them we didn't have the funding available to be able to

05:28do the repairs and do this kind of work which we desperately so desperately wanted for the children

05:33um so for them to to offer that service and really put something back into the community

05:38we will just be forever grateful and I know whilst the children don't understand the whole

05:42process and that they've given that you know the children absolutely are grateful for the

05:46experiences that they get in here.

Corby’s Pen Green delighted with garden renovation that was provided freely by a construction firm

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