School children help 'build' their community » Housing » 24dash.com

Pupils from Robin Hood Primary and Nursery School in Mansfield Woodhouse have been given the chance to design their ideal home with help from Bellway East Midlands and Meden Valley Making Places (MVMP).

Bellway is working in partnership with MVMP to regenerate the area and create a new residential community with its new homes development, Manvers Gardens, in which the school is located.

Following much interest from the children in the new development, which can be seen from the school’s playground, Bellway and MVMP have sponsored a project for pupil’s to plan, design and make models of their ideal homes to give pupils an understanding of regeneration and environmental issues surrounding new housing communities.

The children, aged nine to 11, worked with craft materials such as wood and paper to design and build their ‘dream homes’, which included detailed features such as curtains, blinds and gardens. The houses were then arranged into a community, which included environmental elements such as trees and bushes.

The activity helped the pupils visualise how the development will look when it’s finished and has also been integrated into the school’s curriculum. Disposable cameras were also donated by MVMP to take photos of the final stages of the development, which will be included in a showcase exhibition, alongside their model community, for parents and school governors to view.

Robert Blockley, sales manager for the North with Bellway East Midlands, said: “We strive to incorporate a sense of community into every development we regenerate and build. It’s excellent that we could involve the children of Robin Hood School to educate them about regeneration and the environment, as these issues are so significant in today’s society and the future of property building.”

Gary Kirk, chief executive of MVMP, said: “This is a great example of how schools can become involved in the process of regeneration and we have been delighted to involve local children as we complete the final stages of Manvers Gardens, as they too will have a lot to gain from engaging with the new community.”

Julie Rowbottom, head teacher at Robin Hood Primary and Nursery School, said: “We were thrilled to receive the sponsorship from Bellway and MVMP. The activity was most beneficial to the pupils, as it gave them a real insight into what makes a happy community, which also acquired them with knowledge about building and regeneration, as well as skills for the future to enable them to live more harmoniously with one another.

“It’s an exciting time for our school, as we welcome prospective parents with potential new pupils from the new development, to look around our school and meet the teachers here.”

Manvers Gardens is just one of five new developments that Bellway East Midlands has been building in partnership with MVMP to being 600 new homes to the Meden Valley in the north Nottinghamshire and North Derbyshire area, including a number of affordable homes.

Bellway East Midland’s portfolio of homes ranges from one-bedroom apartments to five-bedroom detached homes across the country. It has developments from Chesterfield in the north, across Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire and down to Northampton and Kettering.

MVMP is a not-for-profit organisation set up as a government initiative to acquire properties for refurbishment and demolition and sell development land for new homes, as well as carrying out public realm and environmental improvement works to create an attractive, safe environment for people to live.

For information about the properties currently available at Manvers Park contact sales adviser Jackie Grey on site Monday to Friday 10:30am – 5:00pm with late opening on Thursday from 10:30am – 7:30pm. Alternatively, visit www.bellway.co.uk.

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