Taylor Wimpey helps to encourage Primary One pupils in West Lothian to walk to school
In support of October’s International Walk to School month this year, Taylor Wimpey has donated high visibility snap bands to Primary One pupils at St Joseph’s Primary in Whitburn and St Paul’s Primary East Calder. The annual initiative, organised by UK charity Living Streets, aims to encourage families to leave the car at home and walk to school safely. Further donations are planned for East Calder Primary School and Polkemmet Primary School.
According to research by Living Streets, less than half of all school children are currently walking to school, a drop from 70% a generation ago.* The research also found that children who exercise before school arrive refreshed and ready to learn and Helen Torsney, Head Teacher at St Paul’s Primary, agrees: “It’s really important to us that our pupils are happy and engaged when they arrive at school and walking is a great way for them to start the day. We want to encourage children and their parents to walk to school and the high visibility snap bands donated by Taylor Wimpey will help our Primary Ones to do this more safely.”
Mrs Burns, Head Teacher at St Joseph’s Primary adds: “As well as promoting a healthy lifestyle to students, walking to school is also a huge help in reducing the volume of traffic outside school, thereby making the area safer for all. I would like to say a big thank you to Taylor Wimpey for this donation and for their help in raising awareness of Walk to School Month among our Primary one pupils and their parents. This is a fun and informative way to engage our children in getting active safely. Many of our children already walk to school and using the high-viz bands will certainly brighten up their journey to and from school whilst also helping to keep them safe.”
Karen Armstrong, Sales and Marketing Director for Taylor Wimpey East Scotland, says: “International Walk to School Month is a fantastic initiative and we are proud to be supporting it again this year. We hope that our donation of snap bands to four primary schools near our developments in West Lothian will help to encourage children to lead a healthy lifestyle, while staying safe on their walk to school.”
Taylor Wimpey has donated over 65,000 snap bands to school children around the UK since 2014 as part of its commitment to giving back to the local communities in which it builds.
Primary School pupils get a lesson at Taylor Wimpey’s Calderwood development in East Calder
Children from a primary school in East Calder have been given an exciting opportunity to see the new homes that are under construction at Taylor Wimpey’s Calderwood development as part of their project to learn more about what the Romans have done for us and their influence in house design, roads and sewage that is still used in modern construction.
Youngsters from the Primary 3 class from St Paul’s Primary School explored the leading housebuilder’s development to learn more about the new homes and took the opportunity to visit the show home at the development.
The team at Taylor Wimpey in East Calder were more than happy to facilitate the visit as Eddie McCann, Site Manager at Calderwood adds: “We really enjoyed meeting the children from St Paul’s Primary School and to facilitate their visit to the development. By providing an insight into the build process of a Taylor Wimpey home, and showcasing the features of the homes here at Calderwood, we hope that we’ve helped to bring their project to life.
“This was also a really good opportunity for the children to learn about some of the processes that it takes to build a new home, and to see some construction activity at the development. We also hope that we have inspired a few of the youngsters to consider the housebuilding industry in the future.“
Class teacher Miss Gibson, said: “Our children thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Taylor Wimpey’s Calderwood development, asking lots of questions and learning about the building process. They also really enjoyed applying some of their learning so far about some of the features of construction that we still see today but actually came from the Romans.”
Whilst the children were at the development, the team took the opportunity to remind the children never to play near a building site and that a school visit was extra-special because normally there are no children allowed near any construction. Never playing near a construction site is a message that Taylor Wimpey is keen to reinforce to the wider local community – especially ahead of the Christmas school holiday.
Pictured above: Matthew Walker, Taylor Wimpey's Trainee Site Manager with some of the Primary 3 class from St Paul's Primary on their recent visit to the development.
Taylor Wimpey East Scotland volunteers lend a hand at Cyrenians Farm
A team of our staff volunteers from across the East Scotland business recently took the opportunity to lend a hand at the Cyrenians Farm, near our Calderwood development in East Calder. This is a working farm that is a social enterprise that produces fruit, vegetables and eggs; as well as being home to a community of vulnerable young people, many with experience of homelessness.
Andrew Roberts, Senior Strategic Land and Planning Manager said: “We were delighted to have the opportunity to support Cyrenians Community Farm with a team of our staff donating their time to get stuck-in and help with some work at the farm. It was hard work but we all really enjoyed getting involved and our hands dirty for such a worthwhile local project that provides a range of support for vulnerable people to build their skills and confidence to help them to be able to make better life choices.
“The work we do is a lot more than just building high-quality homes. Being able to work with local businesses and organisations that surround our developments means a great deal to us and it’s great to know that we are helping to make a difference to the lives of people in local communities.”
We give primary school pupils a lesson at our Calderwood development in East Calder
Children from a primary school in East Calder have been given an exciting opportunity to see the new homes that are under construction at our Calderwood development as part of their eco project to learn more about sustainability.
Youngsters from the Primary 6 class from St Paul’s Primary School explored our development to learn more about the new homes; saw various stages of construction; watched a mini-bricklaying session; and took the opportunity to visit the show home.
Our team in East Calder were more than happy to facilitate the visit as Eddie McCann, Site Manager at Calderwood adds: “We really enjoyed meeting the children from St Paul’s Primary School and to facilitate their visit to the development. By providing an insight into the build process of a Taylor Wimpey home, and showcasing the sustainability features of the homes here at Calderwood, which include PV solar panels, we hope that we’ve helped to bring their eco project to life.
“This was also a really good opportunity for the children to learn about some of the processes that it takes to build a new home, and to see some construction activity at the development. We also hope that we have inspired a few of the youngsters to consider the housebuilding industry in the future.“
We are proud to leave a lasting legacy in East Calder
Following our donation of £500 to supply play bark and other materials, a handful of amazing dads gave up their time to make significant improvements to the outdoor space at the club, which means the children can now use the garden all-year round. We also donated 300 spring bulbs that will add an annual splash of colour to the flowerbeds in the children’s play garden.
The bulbs have been donated as part of our national Proud campaign to show our commitment and pride in leaving a lasting legacy in the communities in which we build.
The planting took place on Monday 1 October and the bulbs are set to grow into a bright, floral tribute to the local area. As well as joining children from Simply Play enjoying their new climbing frame in the new-look garden, Natalie Lewis (Sales Executive) from our local team also joined in with the bulb planting.
West Calder High School ties down our donation
As part of our ongoing commitment to working in partnership with local communities, we have recently donated £500 to West Calder High School Parent Council.
The donation will go towards its Sponsor a Tie Appeal, which aims to provide every students at West Calder High School with a free school tie, following the redesign of their school tie to mark the opening of the new school building.
This generous donation marks our return to East Calder, as the next phase of new homes at our Calderwood development are due to launch locally later this year.
To find out more about the charities and organisations that Taylor Wimpey supports, please visit www.taylorwimpey.co.uk/media-centre/news.
West Lothian College
Our conversation locally has extended to include three members of our production team who supported a recent Careers Fayre event at West Lothian College in February 2019.
We are now exploring how we can work together to support apprenticeships or provide work experience.
Broxburn United 2008's scores Taylor Wimpey sponsorship
The boys, aged 10 and 11, play in the West Lothian 7-a-side ‘A’ league from their base at Albyn Sports Centre in Broxburn. Away games take the team to some key West Lothian locations where we have new or established developments including East Calder and Bathgate. Our donation has funded new strips for the youngsters.
Commenting on the support it has received, Graham Mckendrick, Coach from Broxburn United 2008’s said: “We are thrilled to receive this support from Taylor Wimpey East Scotland and we are grateful for their continued support for initiatives like ours in the local community. I would like to say a huge thank you to the regional team in Dunfermline.”
