Growing Places December 2022

Growing Places

News, Views and Updates from the idverde Group of Companies

December 2022

Northern Ireland’s first Tiny Forest planted in Belfast

out to help create this fantastic forest.

Each Tiny Forest that we plant has a positive impact on its community and we’re looking forward to working with the local community in Belfast to care for their new Tiny Forest. It’s very special to have this forest so close to Black Mountain Primary School as the children will be able to see the trees that they planted growing up alongside them.”

idverde has helped to create Northern Ireland’s first ‘Tiny Forest’ at Black Mountain Primary School in Belfast. Tiny Forests – which consist of 600 fast growing, native woodland species of trees, intensely planted in an area around the size of a tennis court – are being planted in urban areas.

The Tiny Forest project has been created by Earthwatch Europe, in partnership with The Queen’s Green Canopy, and aims to create Tiny Forests in all four nations of the United Kingdom.

Malachy Brennan, Head of Grounds Maintenance for the Housing Executive’s Belfast Region, said:

“We were delighted to provide a portion of our land for this project. It’s so exciting to see local school children get involved in biodiversity projects - we hope it inspires them to enhance and protect their environment in the years ahead.”

Through the term contract with Northern Ireland Housing Executive, idverde was asked to deliver the scheme on the ground; with our team carrying out the earthworks, site prep and purchasing of the required materials. Members of Team idverde later returned as volunteers to help with the planting.

The children and community members planted 600 trees including Elm, Oak, Silver Birch, Hawthorn, and Gorse. 100 of the trees were tagged for future research into and the area was finished off with a mulching layer. The forest was designed to attract over 500 animal and plant species within the first three years, providing an accessible green space and outdoor classroom for local urban communities to connect with nature.

Ben Williams of Earthwatch said:

“We’re so pleased to see so many members of the local community come

Trevor Spence, Operations Director for idverde, said: “It is great to be part of the first Tiny Forest, this type of work aligns well with the company’s direction of travel from a biodiversity point of view and something we want to continue to develop with many of our other clients going forwards. It was great to get young children involved to also raise their awareness of the importance of creating inner city green spaces.”

Supporting an international research project

idverde works with Plymouth University on a cross-border research programme investigating the properties of an ancient building technique called ‘cob’.

Plymouth University’s CobBauge Project is using the material to create four new cob mixes that will be thermally and structurally monitored to see if and how they improve household energy efficiency.

The project, which has partners including the European Union, Caen Normandie University, Interreg and Earth Building UK and Ireland, runs until mid-2023 and aims to increase public awareness of how traditional building methods can be brought back into use. The results will be share with the construction industry, with a second phase concentrating on training over 500 builders in cob construction methods, and issuing guidance on cob mixes.

idverde won the contract by impressing the University with our previous experience, high standards of work and nature-based credentials. Our ability to deliver all the elements of the design using our in-house team was also a factor. And, as the incumbent maintenance team, it was in our best interests to build and handover a topnotch project.

Plymouth University wanted to transform the car park next to the new building into a garden that would compliment it. There was a need for green space and seating areas on this part of the campus, and the University also wanted to provide dedicated planting

areas for student use. All materials used in the build had to be recycled or sustainably sourced.

Our work for this project involved excavating and removing of 150 tonnes of material, and importing a sub-base and various surfacing gravels. We also

situated around the car park. We removed these and used them to create the facing edges of the planters. As part of the garden, the sculpture `Akin¬`2` by Rosie Sherwood was installed at the front of the CobBauge building.

laid kerbstones and permeable surfacing, including wet-pour rubber surfacing, and creating planters to soften the landscaping.

The site was extremely restricted in space. The CobBauge building, a totem pole, a glass canopy, a mural, several stone walls and a living wall all had to stay in situ and be protected during the works. The University is in Plymouth city centre, so deliveries had to be scheduled carefully to avoid congestion. The Cob building itself was being regularly monitored as part of the University’s research, which required controlled access over the work zone for researchers.

The design stipulated the reuse of the existing granite kerbstones that were

Devon traffic team supports Exeter Carnival

The Staverton traffic management team has received thanks from ‘InExeter’ (Exeter’s Business Improvement District) for their smooth management of traffic on Saturday 26th November, when Exeter’s Carnival finally returned to the city after a 24 year break!

to Exeter. What an evening of joyous celebration!

Thank you to all the entries who came and made the night such a success –without you we would not have had a carnival. It was such an amazing night, thank you for braving the weather and doing what you do best – putting on a show. We could not have done it without the amazing support we have had from the carnival community and local organisations who took part, so thank you to each and every person involved.”

“We are delighted to have been part of this fascinating project,” said Danny Mitchell, our South West RMD, “Working on an area of cutting-edge research and using our nature-based solutions approach to build a sustainable garden as part of the project has helped us to see how reinstating old building techniques could make a huge difference to longerterm sustainability, and we are looking forward to seeing how the project progresses.”

InExeter, the carnival organisers, commented: “Just wow!

This weekend carnival returned

idverde team members who worked on the carnival included: Tony Stark, Steve Dimmech, John Ellicott, Dale Pearce, Lee Fox, Adrian Parkhouse, Barry Beckett, Shawn Hughes, Clive Lacey and Connor Friend.

Year 2 Apprentices travel to Regents Park to present to senior team

(Winchester), Mark Richards (Swindon), Ben Pomroy (Thames Valley), Robin Larkin (Bournemouth), Justin Floyd (Isle of Wight) and Steve Price (Isle of Wight). Following their presentations, they were given a tour of Regents Park and insight into the management and maintenance of one of idverde’s most high-profile sites.

presentations.

It was a positive inspiring day and a good opportunity to network discussing various skills across the region”

Apprentice, Ben Pomroy, said: ‘It was a great day all around. The park looked fantastic and was a great chance to get an insight into the different roles within the company. I enjoyed presenting my PowerPoint and enjoyed the feedback.

Lunch was great too’

On 30th November, current L2 Horticulture apprentices travelled from as far as the Isle of Wight to Regents Park, where they presented to their managers and the idverde leadership team.

This is a key moment in the second year of the two-year apprenticeship process, as apprentice colleagues are encouraged to reflect on what they have learned so far and share it through presentation to senior colleagues. The day also provides a great opportunity to network, visit another contract and explore the learning opportunities that come with a different site.

Presentations were made by 9 second year apprentices – Jason Vincent (Bromley), Jaydine Heath (Bromley), Michael West

Support for our Solihull colleagues

We would like to share support for our colleagues in Solihull, following the tragic incident on Sunday 11th December in Babbs Mill Lake, which led to four young boys losing their lives.

Babbs Mill Lake is within one of our contracts and some of our colleagues have been deeply affected by the incident. Everyone on site has been shocked and upset by the news.

Please spare a moment to think about our colleagues during this difficult time and join us as we send our condolences and support to them.

As a company, we will be doing all we can to support our colleagues through this devastating incident.

Jaydine comments: “I really enjoyed the day at Regents Park, it was great to see all my fellow learners face to face for the 1st time since we started the course, I was also impressed with how far all had progressed and it was interesting how all felt the same with learning plant nomenclature”

Learning and Development Specialist, John Langston, commented: “I found the learners’ presentations inspirational. They were passionate about the jobs that they do and celebrated everything that they had learnt whilst undertaking the course.”

Graham Colenutt, Contract Supervisor on Isle of Wight, commented: “We had a very insightful day listening to the NVQ students presenting what they have done so far and what they have learnt. Their passion really came through in their

Kristian Lennard, Deputy Chief Executive, said: “It was an honour to spend time with our colleagues. I really learned a lot from them and it has really fuelled my appetite to make our training and development an even stronger part of our work next year. These colleagues are setting a fantastic example.”

Congratulations to all 9 apprentices for a successful presentation day, we look forward to seeing you all successfully complete your second year.

Contract Manager, Ben

Congratulations to Ben Federico on passing Level 5 of the Management Development Programme with Distinction!

Ben currently manages three accounts for idverde - East Staffordshire, Midlands Branch and Derby Branch - and has been studying on the MDP to progress his career even further.

Paul Slack, Operations Director, says: “Passing Level 5 of the MDP is an excellent achievement, and to do so with Distinction takes exceptional commitment.

We all know how busy the life of a contract manager is, which can make finding the time for additional training difficult. Not many candidates manage to achieve this result and Ben should feel extremely proud, as we all are of him.”

Federico,

passes MDP Level 5 with Distinction

Congratulations, Ben, and we all look forward to seeing your career continue to grow with Team idverde.

Colleague of the Month DECEMBER

Scotland and North Brian King and Mathew Graham, Merseyside

Brian and Mathew have recently been praised by a client for their tree planting work on site.

The client officer at Stockport Homes said: “I just wanted to say how lovely the newly planted trees look outside Blossoms House. They make a great addition to the grassed area & I’m looking forward to watching them blossom & bloom in the coming years!:

London and South East Mehmet Bayan, LSE Creations

Mehmet has been nominated for his hard work since joining the LSE Creations team six months ago.

Fran Handley, who nominated Mehmet, said: Mehmet joined the LSE Creation team six months ago and has become an invaluable team member. He always does what is needed on site despite the time of day. He always brings a smile to the faces of those who work with him too. Mehmet is very talented and a whizz at documentation which on NEC projects like Tideway is often a quite heavy requirement and he takes it all in his stride. He has been a real asset to the Tideway team. All the tasks he is given are always executed thoroughly and with precision. His efforts have not gone unnoticed by those at idverde and the client, and Mehmet has a bright future ahead for him. He has great potential and as his landscaping experience grows he will be an even greater asset.”

A warm welcome

to those of you who started with idverde in December.

HAVE HAD

Could you be our next safety rep?

We are still looking for more reps across our sites, we’ve had a number of people express interest so far, could you be the next one we are looking for?

As part of our H&S drive, and ahead of Safety Day, we want to recruit more H&S Reps across the country. We already have a number of great Reps in place, and now are looking for more. Someone who is on site most of the time, can participate in creating positive working relationships with the teams and is able to engage with our day-to-day H&S challenges and help support and deliver real improvements.

Your role would include:

• Attending periodic safety meetings and representing your colleagues at those meetings

• Supporting, communicating and promoting key H&S messages within the workforce

• Representing the interests of your colleagues, understanding concerns or risks that may need further consideration and liaising and cooperating with management on matters arising, particularly any issues that represent significant or immediate risk or danger

In Other News...

• BALI Awards take place in London

On 2nd December, idverde colleagues attended the prestigious BALI Awards ceremony in London.

Whilst the team were not successful as Principal winners in the categories, we still walked away as BALI Award Winners for Alfred Place in the Hard Landscaping Construction (non-Domestic) - OVER £500K category and for Abbotts Lane Linear Park in the Community and Schools Development Category.

idverde sponsored the Supplier Exceptional Service category, presenting the award on stage to the winner, Adtrak.

Nominate a colleague

If you know a team member who would be great at this role but who needs a little encouragement, give them a nudge to help develop their potential!

In return, you will get:

• Full training

• Time to perform your role, including time to speak to colleagues about H&S topics

• Access to the Regional SHEQ Manager for support and advice and to be part of the H&S community where ideas and best practice is shared

• Space for equipment, storage of records/documents (if required)

• Kings Links golf course in Aberdeen receives praise from the public for high standard of maintenance

Our Aberdeen colleagues have received multiple comments from the public, praising the high standard of the Kings Link golf course.

Fraser Downie, said: “I passed the links yesterday and certainly from the roadside the greens look amazing.”

Jayke McHugh said: “Had the pleasure of playing the Links today. The course is absolutely stunning. Greens and Fairways are in fabulous condition. Credit to the greenkeepers and staff. There can’t be many better local courses in better condition.”

Well done to our idverde colleagues in Aberdeen for their highstandards of work attracting such praise from the public.

• Hastings team donate Christmas tree to SANDS charity

Our Hastings team has again donated a Christmas tree and base for the SANDS Charity.

The tree has been installed in the Peace Garden in Alexandra Park for the last three years specifically for SANDS and parents affected by the loss of a baby.

The tree provides a place for families to go and attach a bow to the tree in memory of their child each year.

Paul Meek, Contract Manager, said: “It is a simple gesture but well received by everyone”.

Have you taken a fantastic photo of Team idverde at work, one of our sites looking great, interesting biodiversity on site or anything else that’s part of life at Team idverde? We would love to see them and feature in our first edition of 2023. Send in your entries to marketing@idverde.co.uk before 20th January and the best one will receive a £25 Love2Shop voucher.

The winner of November’s brain teaser is Mario Silva, in Merton Congratulations, Mario!