The Big Clean Up at Stoney Knoll and Gloverfield
Jan 25, 2012The preparations in the lead up to Christmas can be hectic, but construction sites are usually about getting everything put away and made safe, ready for the Christmas Close down. But our site team at Stoney Knoll and Gloverfield in Salford decided to use the last morning before the site close down for something a little more productive…
Eight members of the site team including labourers, joiners and plasterers, resident liaison and site management staff decided to do a ‘Neighbourhood Clean Up’. Over the course of a cold morning on 23rd December, the site team gave residents a surprise ‘helping hand’ in getting the neighbourhood looking ship shape for Christmas.
During the afternoon they removed all manner of litter and debris, as well as a skip load of items that had been dumped including beds, and old settee, mattresses, TV cabinet’s and old bric a brac.
Residents were delighted with the big act of kindness shown by the site team, who found the exercise got them well and truly into the Christmas spirit.
An old settee that was removed
Looking ship shape after the clean up
Streetgate residents – home for Christmas
Dec 23, 2011
Elsie cuts the ribbon at the Grand re-opening of the newly refurbished community facilities at Streetgate Sheltered Scheme
It’s been a long five months, but residents were finally invited back to enjoy their newly refurbished communal facilities at City West’s Streetgate Sheltered Scheme in Salford.
The £370k refurbishment was completed by Emanuel Whittaker in an astonishing five months, just in time to allow residents to enjoy their new facilities over the Christmas break. The makeover included extensive demolition, remodelling and extending the existing communal lounge, extending and remodelling the kitchen and wardens offices, providing fully adapted toilet facilities and creating an outdoor landscaped area. The facilities were equipped with new furniture and soft furnishings selected by residents during the extensive consultation period.
At 97 years and being the oldest resident in the scheme, Elsie Davies was given the honour of cutting the ribbon, along with staff from City West. Residents, their friends and family were then invited in to take a tour of their new facilities and enjoy and afternoon of celebrations laid on by City West and Emanuel Whittaker.
The party gets underway
The residents were truly overjoyed with their new facilities… ‘It’s absolutely beautiful’, ‘they’ve really gone to town on us’ and ‘we can’t wait to have our parties in here’ were just some of the comments from the appreciative residents.
City West thanked the residents, City West staff and Emanuel Whittaker’s for their hard work. Residents then enjoyed a buffet before the entertainment started and in true Streetgate style, it wasn’t long before the residents were dancing and enjoying their new facilities.
Dovedale Community Celebrate
Aug 29, 2011Contour Homes residents living at Dovedale Court in Middleton are celebrating after the completion of a £190,000.00 improvement programme on their 2-bedroom flats.
Contour Homes Scheme Manager Bernadette Murphy said: “Over the past few months contractors Emanuel Whittaker renewed kitchens, carried out electrical up-grades and replaced boilers. Despite the disruptive nature of these works the customer satisfaction were 100%, based on a 100% response rate – you really can’t get any better than that!”
Frances Hall has lived on Dovedale for twenty years and said she would not live anywhere else. “I absolutely love living here,” she said. “My flat is on the top floor and the views are fabulous – on a clear day you can see the Pennines. There is a lovely community spirit here and we all get on and we were all delighted when we found out that Contour Homes was going to be doing this work.”
House-proud Frances kept her flat spic-and-span but admits that her old kitchen was a bit basic. “My new kitchen is lovely,” she said. “ I’ve also had a new boiler and central heating system and I feel like I’ve got a new home – without moving from the one I love!
“The work only took two weeks and the lads doing the work from Emanuel Whittaker were so polite and courteous. In fact, I used to just go and leave them to it!”
Tam Graham, Site Manager said he and his team place a great emphasis on respecting customers’ homes. “We like to give customers a real role in the works, from the choice of finishes to the quality and standard of works. We do joint snagging with customers before we hand over the properties to Contour Homes, that way we can be sure customers are happy with the quality of our work.”
Inspired by the work inside their properties the community formed a gardening club in May 2011, with help from Contour Homes Neighbourhood Support Officer Sandra Bush. This brought colour to the scheme and spruced up the outdoor areas. The Resident Engagement Team awarded funding for plants, soil and tools and Community Payback helped with the digging of old plants and weeds.
“We have not got a lot of ‘garden’ but we thought we could plant a few flowers and add some tubs and boxes and it would complete the job that Contour Homes and Emanuel Whittaker have started,” added Frances.
Julie Morgan, Resident Engagement Officer from Contour Homes said: “We have all heard and seen a lot recently about the lack of community spirit in this country – the residents of Dovedale Court prove that is not the case in Middleton!”
Graham Bullock, Supervising Surveyor from Symphony Housing working on behalf of Contour Homes said “from inception through to completion of the project Emanuel Whittaker’s have delivered the usually consistent and excellent level of Customer focussed service, standard of work and compliance with tight deadlines, budgets and Health and Safety requirements we expect. Yet another example of Contour Homes and Symphony Housing working in Partnership with their Planned Maintenance Contractors.”