Construct may 2014

construct working well together

May 2014

Glory restored at Memorial Park, Fleetwood By definition, the numerous park restoration projects which P Casey (Land Reclamation) Ltd have delivered in the last 10 years have had at least some connotations of returning landscapes to past glories. This has been due to the fact that they were originally conceived in the Victorian and Georgian periods where elaborate designs reflected the nation’s need for grandeur and opulence on a wide scale to offset the country’s turbulent times between 1870 to 1918, and to celebrate a growing empire.

More recently however, Casey has been involved in a number of projects which have had even more historical and archaeological significance, some of which have also had Royal connections from way back in history.

The multi award winning Lichfield Parks project for example, was constructed around the City’s 13th Century Cathedral with the Minster Pool, part of the restoration works, also dating from that time. The grounds of the park also had significant Civil War era interest with archaeological monitoring turning up a number of ‘finds’ during excavation works.

The current projects in Leicester City Centre have even more historical interest. The Cathedral Gardens Public Realm project is in the media spotlight, being at the centre of discussions surrounding the final resting place of the last Plantagenet King of England, Richard III. The almost complete Kings Gardens in Southport is the epitome of Victorian and Georgian design influences, having been originally built as Marine Gardens in 1873. It was named Kings Gardens following a visit from George V and Queen Mary in 1913 and was a main focal point for public genteel entertainment in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

New Project Award Now the company is delighted to announce the award of another restoration project of historical significance — Fleetwood’s Grade II listed Memorial Park in the town centre.

Situated on the site of the Warrenhurst Estate, the Memorial Park was conceived in 1918, but the park wasn’t built until 1925.

It is one of only a few listed parks in the UK which were built to commemorate the fallen of the First World War.

Photographs courtesy of lazylikesunday.net

The project’s design will breathe new life into this famous seaside town’s public park which borders the new stadium for Fleetwood Town FC, and will provide a major boost for local people and visitors alike.

It is funded by a £2.4m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and it is appropriate that the works are to be carried out during the First World War Centenary Year.

Casey has become one of the leading brands in the UK for park restoration and public realm works.

Another recent contract award, the Ewood Gyratory project in Blackburn, demonstrates the company’s versatility across a wide range of exacting work disciplines.

The Casey work portfolio can be viewed on our website: www.casey.co.uk/casestudies

To submit articles or information for this newsletter, contact Debbie Hubbard on 07834 867580 or debbie.hubbard@casey.co.uk.

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Health, Safety and Welfare Stress and resilience Pressure Pressure is part and parcel of all work and helps to keep us motivated. But excessive pressure can lead to stress, which undermines performance, is costly to employers and can make people ill.

In April, The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) launched a two year Europe-wide campaign: ‘Healthy Workplaces Manage Stress’.

EU-OSHA’s latest pan-European opinion poll revealed that 51% of workers find workrelated stress to be common in their workplace. However, together employers and workers can successfully manage and prevent work-related stress and psychosocial risks, and this campaign aims to help companies do just that.

The psychosocial workplace environment has a significant effect on the health and well-being of workers. If left unmanaged, workers suffering from work-related stress can go on to develop serious mental and physical health problems, and in turn this has an impact on the organisation and society as a whole.

work when they are sick and unable to function effectively); and  Increased accident and injury rates.

Literature about the campaign will be distributed at Casey throughout all our workplaces so make sure you check newsletters and noticeboards.

At Casey, we offer the Employee Assistance Helpline, which is a confidential support service providing practical information, legal advice and professional counselling to help employees cope with a variety of personal, family or workplace issues.

This service is provided by an independent professional company and there is no cost to employees or members of their immediate family who use it.

Details on how to use the service are always in the internal newsletters.

For the individual worker, the negative effects may include:

   

 Poor overall business performance;  Increased absenteeism;  Presenteeism (workers turning up for

Burnout and depression; Difficulty in concentrating; Problems at home; and Poor physical health, especially cardiovascular disease and musculoskeletal problems.

At the organisation level, the negative effects include:

The Casey Group Ltd has been awarded another gold medal in the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2014.

Chris Casey, Casey Managing Director said: “At Casey, we have always placed health, safety and welfare at the top of our agenda. This second Gold Medal (the first was achieved after 5 consecutive Gold Awards) is testament to this and is a result of the responsibility taken by every single Casey employee.”

Stress Stress is a natural reaction by the body that happens when a part of the brain perceives a threat, it is our fight or flight response. Our breath speeds up, digestion slows, muscles tense, mouth becomes dry, heart rate and blood pressure rise and our immune system becomes suppressed.

The challenge is that this survival mechanism is a primitive response in a modern world, so sustained exposure to feelings of stress can cause negative reactions. You may experience problems in concentrating, low mood, low energy, anxious/panicked feelings, pessimism, or hypersensitivity.

Your appetite may be affected, you may drink more, take unusual risks, neglect responsibilities or withdraw.

Strengthening your resilience Your ability to thrive on typical pressures, avoiding negative stress, is dependent on how resilient you are feeling. Your resilience can change and be different from person to person, what is one person’s stress can be another person’s challenge.

But resilience can be improved by some small changes:

 Exercise: this is a way to blow off steam,

provides a great distraction and gives you a good natural high from endorphins!

 Healthy eating: avoid insulin dips by

eating small meals, often. Avoid dehydration which can affect your mood, and say no to “cortisol cravings”: high stress levels can increase our cravings for fatty, sugary and salty foods

 Quality sleep: avoid sugar, caffeine and

alcohol for 6 hours before bed, have a light snack that is high in carbs instead (ie egg, cereal, milk, oatcakes, banana).

It is helpful to gradually wind down and avoid watching tv or using computers/ screens etc for about an hour prior to bedtime. Visual, aural and mental stimulation such as this can inhibit the production of melatonin, which is necessary for getting a good night's rest.

 Get help: sometimes knowing what to

change and how to begin, is stressful in itself. Talking to a counsellor can help you identify your stress triggers, can help you create options and also help you see your world in a more accepting way.

working well together The Peter Casey Scholarship

“I was overwhelmed to receive my notification letter and am delighted to have been selected as this year’s recipient,” said Stuart. “It is an absolute honour to be recognised for my work this year and it motivates me to continue to strive for excellence. The scholarship will not only enable me to concentrate on my studies, but also provide the financial security to invest more time to causes that I hold dear such as raising money for the landmine clearing charity, MAG International.”

The Award was made at a presentation at the School of the Built Environment, attended by Paul Turner, Director at Casey.

The Casey Companies, now based in Rochdale, originally started in Salford over 46 years ago and employ several staff who studied or are studying at Salford University.

From left to right: Dr Gerard Wood, Associate Head (SOBE); Dr Kaushal Keraminiyage, Lecturer (SOBE); Paul Turner (Casey); Stuart Hartley, Student; David Faal, Donor Engagement Officer (University of Salford); David Baldry, Deputy Head (SOBE)

April saw the award of the first Peter Casey Scholarship at the University of Salford’s School of the Built Environment (SOBE).

The recipient of the scholarship, awarded on merit, was Stuart Hartley who is in his first year at Salford, studying Quantity Surveying. Stuart will receive an annual contribution for the 3 years of his studies.

Fields of Vision — Yorkshire Festival 2014 Casey is proud to be hosting a large scale land artwork for Fields of Vision, part of the Yorkshire Festival 2014.

Fields of Vision, coordinated by Pennine Prospects, a rural regeneration company, comprises a series of huge, grass-based land art installations forming a trail through the stunning South Pennines landscape — the backdrop to Stage 2 of The Grand Départ of The Tour de France.

The commissioned artists are creating bold interpretations of the distinctive uplands to reveal interactions between landscape and community.

The former landfill site owned by Casey at Elland will host a permanent work by local artist, Jane Revitt, and will be a murmuration of starlings set into the hillside. Starling numbers are falling in Yorkshire and the work aims to highlight their plight.

At each site, there is a vantage point which will allow members of the public to stop in safety to enjoy the installation in

Starling murmuration before roosting time

the wider landscape setting. The works will be visible to local communities, those exploring the Tour de France route and viewers of the race on television.

With art and cultural events happening throughout Yorkshire, the Festival runs from 27 March to 6 July, with the Fields of Vision works available from 1 June.

Stage 2 of The Tour, which runs from York to Sheffield, goes through Elland on 6 July and the starlings should be visible if you view the race on TV. For further information visit Yorkshire Festival: festival.yorkshire.com Tour de France: letour.yorkshire.com or letour.com

David Faal is the Donor Engagement Officer at the University of Salford. In thanking Peter Casey, he said: “The University of Salford has achieved a great deal thanks to the generosity of donors like Peter. This generosity tells our students, academics and researchers that someone believes in them and the projects they are working on. That’s a powerful message.”

BBC Easter Service at Leicester Leicester Cathedral was host to the BBC Easter Service this year, even though it is in the centre of a major public realm scheme being carried out by Casey.

Filming with BBC’s Bill Turnbull and the Dean of Leicester

Casey staff attended on site to make sure that safe walkways were available for filming outside the Cathedral, and to ensure the safety of clergy, congregation and film crew.

The works are due to be completed in July.

Casey Cake Bake raises £100 Debi and Sarah from the Casey Accounts Department raised a whopping £100 for Against Breast Cancer by selling cakes and charity pins during April.

They would like to thank everyone who bought cakes or contributed, and we’d like to say thank you, ladies. Well done!

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Creating a buzz in your garden One out of every three mouthfuls of our food depends on pollination taking place. Bees are essential in pollinating the crops that form our food, and also for pollinating the wild flowers and meadows that provide food for much of our wildlife. But they are disappearing at an alarming rate.

We currently have around 25 species of bumblebee in Britain—that’s half the number we had 50 years ago. In the last 30 years, two bumblebee species have become extinct and many more have suffered a marked decline.

Bees of all types can be found in nectar and pollen rich plants, whether this is in your garden, on farmland or in the countryside.

But numbers are rapidly decreasing and there are several contributing reasons why.

Unpredictable and extreme weather resulting from our changing climate.

Intensive farming which has fragmented habitats and led to the loss of wildflower meadows and hedgerows.

Pesticide use. This kills ‘troublesome’ insects, but kills beneficial ones too.

Disease spread by mites is a particular problem for honeybees.

However, recent studies suggest that one virus carried by honeybees, deformed wing virus, is also spreading to wild bees.

We can all do something to help the native bee population, and that doesn’t mean becoming a nation of bee keepers!

Perhaps the simplest and most effective way to help our bees is to make sure that we plant the flowers and shrubs that they prefer, providing food for them when they need it.

What does a bee-friendly garden look like?

As a rule of thumb, your garden should provide bee-friendly flowers that are rich in pollen and nectar which bees can easily access from spring until late summer.

Most double flowers are of little use because they are too elaborate and the bees cannot get to the nectar and pollen. Flowers with open heads are good as the pollen and nectar is within easy reach. Tubular flowers like clover are good for species with long tongues such as many bumble bees.

You should also avoid using pesticides as almost all of these can harm bees. Some pests can be controlled by simply planting other plants nearby.

Try these plants in your garden to get it buzzing.

Wherever you live in the UK, you should be able to attract six different species to your garden, and maybe up to 10.

Some of our rarer species prefer native plants, but the ‘native is best’ message is perhaps too restrictive. Studies have shown that bumblebees and honey bees like nearnative species (from the northern hemisphere, but not native to Britain), solitary bees prefer natives, while wasps prefer exotics (from the southern hemisphere).

Late summer flowers

Spring flowers

Angelica, aster, buddleia, cardoon, cornflower, dahlia (single flowered), delphinium, fuchsia, globe thistle, heather, ivy, lavender, sedum

Bluebell, bugle, crab apple, daffodil, flowering cherry and currant, forget-me-not (Myosotis), hawthorn, hellebore, pussy willow, rhododendron, rosemary, viburnum, dandelion

Early summer flowers Aquilegia, campanula, comfrey, everlasting sweet pea, fennel, foxglove, geranium, snapdragon, stachys, teasel, thyme, verbascum

As well as planting, you can also attract bees by providing water and accommodation. Bee nests are widely available for sale, but why not build your own bee hotel. You can find instructions on the Gardeners World website bit.ly/1lYyi22

There is always a lot of input required to produce this newsletter, and it’s a team effort. We would like to say a big Thank You! to all contributors to this issue: Chris Williams, Paul Turner, Danny Lyle, Debi Fagan and Sarah Ives.

The Casey Companies Rydings Road, Rochdale, OL12 9PS T: 01706 341121

E: info@casey.co.uk

W: www.casey.co.uk

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