Santa Visit to Cwrt Rawlin Primary School

On Friday 18th December myself and Nicole from Leadbitter accompanied Father Christmas to Cwrt Rawlin Primary School which is practically opposite our development at Castlegate. We both slipped in to our Elf Costumes are were raring to go. 'What a lovely way to spend the day' I thought to myself. I even informed Tony that I couldn't believe I was getting paid to have such a fun day. Big Mistake!! The school has children from the ages of 3 years up to 11 years....and us elves along with Father Christmas spoke to every single one of them in turn. The younger children were totally speechless when we walked in to their classes but some of the older ones were, well a bit more lippy !! Apart from the usual requests such as PS3, X-Box, Bikes and DSi's one boy turned around and told santa that he wanted a wife!!! My gosh he was like 10!! (He'll soon wise up).

A lovely festive day was had by all but it really was hard work, by the time we left just before 3pm my ears were ringing and my head was banging!! But you know what - I'd do it all again next year just to see the smile on some of those kids faces!!

Solar Panel Installation at Heolddu Comprehensive

On a cold and miserable Tuesday morning I ventured out to Heolddu Comprehensive in Bargoed to witness the installation of Solar Panels. The school is in Phase 1 of a programme which has been funded by Heads of the Valleys to support the installation of Solar Panels in 12 schools in the Caerphilly.

This project will enable to help the school reduce their fuel bills, offer new learning opportunities and shift to a low carbon living behaviour.

Once all the cables are installed the rest of the fitting is pretty straightforward. Basically the black bases on the roof are weighed down by bags of stones, the cables are then connected and the panel is fitted.

Hey Presto - its ready to run!!

Please see video footage below:

Planting Session with Children for St James Primary School, Mornington Meadows

On Friday 6th November I took some Year 6 pupils from St Josephs Primary School, Mornington Meadows over to Cole Court (which is our Living Plus Scheme in Mornington Meadows) to do a 'pot planting' session. It was on the same day that a litter picking session on the estate had been organised by United Welsh. The children planted spring bulbs into pots and some very colourful heather was placed on the top.

I was keen to take the children into our Extra Care Scheme and for them to meet some of our elderly tenants and vice versa. Posters were put up at the complex inviting residents down to the communal area to meet the children and to encourage them to get involved in the activity if they wished to do so.

What a great morning we had!! I split the children into two teams, one was going to do some litterpicking first whilst the other group were at Cole Court planting some pots and vice versa. Quite a few residents came down to the lounge area. One or two of them used there gardening experience to assist the children with their planting. Others made tea/coffee or just enjoyed the company of having some different faces around. It was lovely to see everyone interacting with each other. Bernadette and Louise (Scheme Managers) made everyone feel very welcome and also put on squash, biscuits and sweets for the children which went down a treat! The children also entererd a Picture Quiz where the winner will receive a £20 Argos Voucher.

A great morning was had by all. The children were an absolute delight. Funny, very polite and a real credit to the school. A special thanks must also go to Sheila and Brenda (Cole Court Residents) for all the help they gave during the day (greatest tea makers in the South!!) plus they helped tidy up at the end of the session.

Many thanks to all involved.

Site Visits to Extra Care Scheme at Penrhos

On Tuesday 22nd October Nicole from Leadbitter and myself took a group of year 6 children from the Cwrt Rawlin Primary School over to have a look at our Extra Care scheme at Penrhos (which is just across the road from where their school is).

It was rather a wet and windy afternoon but the children put on their coats and were eager to go! As the building is still as at a dangerous stage the children were unable to go in. However they were able to get an excellent view from the 'viewing platform' that Leadbitter have put up there. The site manager then gave the children a talk about all aspects of the building trade and warned them about the dangers of a building site. A man in a really fancy forklift truck gave the children a demonstration which they were pretty impressed with. The 'forks' extended so that they could reach the top of the building to pass up materials to the men working on the scaffolding.

After the visit the children were then taken into a portacabin where they were given squash and muffins and could dry off a bit!

We will take the children over again in a few months time when the building has progressed a bit more.

Art Project, Stable Lane, Tredegar

Just before the summer holidays United Welsh and St James Parade, the Contractors working at Stable Lane, Tredegar, agreed to fund an Art Project which enabled the local comprehensive school (Tredegar Comp) to do some paintings to erect on the hoarding boards around one area of the site.

The children used special paint that was then varnished to withstand extreme weather conditions! The theme for their work was 'Local Heritage.' The results really were amazing and the children did themselves proud - there are definately some budding artists in the school! With the help of Gavin Gibbs (Youth Worker) they also painted the background of the hoarding boards green. The paintings were then attached to the boards where they will remain until the site is complete. The children will then be able to take their individual paintings either back to school or home with them.

On Monday 14th September a photographer for the Gwent Gazette went to take some photos of some of the children that were involved with the project and they should hopefully feature in this weeks edition!!

Well done to you all