Schoolchildren have been getting involved in the construction process of their new local community hub.
Work is under way on the new hub, which aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Bewsey and Dallam, and local schools have been getting involved in the action.
Construction company, Whitfield & Brown Ltd are the principal contractor on the project and have visited two nearby primary schools to provide health and safety assemblies.
Pupils from St Alban’s Primary School, Bewsey Lodge Primary School and Dallam Community Primary school received a talk earlier this month from the construction site’s Health and Safety Officer and they had the chance to try out some safety equipment for themselves.
The purpose of the assemblies was to give pupils an understanding of the dangers in and around construction sites and the importance of not following health and safety instructions by entering playing on building sites to the children from each school especially as schools holidays were round the corner.
Whitfield & Brown has committed to running a range of projects with local schools throughout the construction of the hub and are keen to get the wider community involved.
These projects include:
- Health and safety art competition – pupils from both schools will be tasked with designing safety posters to be displayed on the boards around the construction site
- Ecology tree project – schools will be asked to plant and grow two trees, one for their own school grounds and one to be planted in the garden of the new hub
- Time capsules – pupils from each school will pull together a collection of goods and any other information they think will be important to go into a time capsule that will be planted under trees in the new hub’s garden
The dementia-friendly hub will be approximately 953m2 in size, spread over three storeys. The ground floor will host a learner/hydro-therapy pool, changing village, social zone, digital wellbeing suite, community room and there will be a small library offer.
The first floor will be home to a new fitness suite, changing facilities and multi-use room, with the second floor containing a multi-purpose studio, kitchen and community store.
Plans will also be developed to provide a range of other supporting, integrated activities to enable the hub to become a place for residents to interact, grow and learn in a supportive environment.
The hub – which is being delivered by Warrington & Co. through combined capital investment from Warrington Borough Council, Sport England, the Better Care Fund and Torus – will be located on Longshaw Street, opposite the playing fields and next to an existing children’s play area. It is placed between Bewsey and Dallam with a view to serving both communities.
The design team comprises Walker Simpson Architects, ECS Building Services Consultants & MDA Wirral Structural Engineers and Baker Mallett LLP will project manage the delivery of the scheme. It will take approximately 13 months to construct and is scheduled to be open to the public in summer 2020.
For more information about the hub, please visit warrington.gov.uk/bewseyanddallamhub. If you have any questions, please email WarringtonPartnership@warrington.gov.uk.
