Create Homes Supports Pilling St. John’s Primary School With its Construction Expertise

Above: Site Manager at Create Homes’ St. William’s Gate development Jason Dandy, Regional Sales Manager Georgia Bridge, Acting Headteacher Lisa Hill and Pupils of Pilling St John’s CE Primary School

Quality residential housebuilder Create Homes, currently constructing new homes at St William’s Gate on Garstang Road, offered its expertise to Pilling St John’s CE Primary School & Nursery to improve the look of the school hall and provide easier access to their outdoor facilities.

Site Manager Jason Dandy and his team of contractors from SML Painters and Decorators Ltd and LUXE Brickwork Limited gave their time and expertise to help Pilling St. John’s during the school holidays. The decorating team painted the school hall, whilst the brick contractors created a new opening in the playground wall for a gateway at the back of the school, allowing easier access to a running track and the ‘Forest School’ area, which provides an opportunity for child-lead learning through exploration and interaction with nature. The work took the two teams four days to complete.

The school children had previously engaged with Create Homes when they presented the Sales Team with a show board welcome new residents to the housing development and advertise their school to new families. Throughout the duration of the building work, Create Homes made sure that children were kept safe when walking to school across the site, by providing a secure fenced pathway.

Pilling St John’s CE Primary School & Nursery is a creative, forward-thinking Church of England Primary School, and school hall is utilised for assemblies, sports and extra-

Above: Create Team with Acting Head Teacher and Pupils in the school Hall

curricular activities such as music and arts. Staff believe the upgraded facilities that the Create Homes team provided will help them deliver their high-quality curriculum in a better environment, therefore contributing to the children’s wellbeing and development.

Acting Headteacher, Lisa Hill wrote to Create Homes to thank the team for their hard work: “Please pass on my thanks to the workers who completed the work. They were professional, friendly and very approachable. They explained what they were doing and what they needed clearly to us and put us at ease. They worked with us to ensure that they had access to school and have done a brilliant job in the work they carried out. The children have been very excited to see the hall painted and the hole in the wall has already made a massive difference to access to the field and Forest School area.”

Georgia Bridge, Area Sales Manager at Create Homes

commented: “St William’s Gate development has proved very popular with buyers and I feel that our connection with the local community can only get stronger as more new families move onto the development. We wish everyone at the school the very best for the future and we are really happy that you like the improvements.”

To find out more: APPOINTMENTS: createhomes.com/stwilliamsgate ENQUIRIES: stwilliamsgate@createhomes.com

Based in the rural village of Goosnargh, Laurel Farm Kitchens has been recognised as one of only a few truly bespoke kitchen manufacturers in the North West receiving a reputation, second to none, on quality and craftsmanship over the past 25 years.

“Our aim, through the creativity of our kitchen designers and their ability to bring out the best in our client’ s ideas is to create the most imaginative and workable kitchens from the canvas supplied.

Denise Mullen is a journalist, columnist, writer and entrepreneur.

HUSBANDS, HOSPITALS, HOUNDS AND HOT POTATOES

By Denise Mullen

Husbands, they can be quite challenging. I’ve only got the one, so my generalisations are not exactly wide scale.

However, domestic day-to-day at home is never routine. Take last week for example. Said husband had to be rushed into hospital, by ambulance, with breathing problems at 5am.

The drama was the result of a chest infection colliding with an asthma attack. Not good.

The NHS staff were amazing, and

Johnny is fine now, but there was whiff of the bizarre about the whole process.

I’d called 111 and they’d advised the ambulance was the best way forward.

I gave detailed instructions as to how to find us as our postcode takes people to a different address.

I got the call from the ambulance, telling us they were outside the house, number 49, and would I please let them in. I explained that wouldn’t be possible as we don’t live there, hopped in the car and drove like a madwoman to find them and give them a lead to our unremarkable farm track.

Oxygen was produced, the boy’s stats are examined, and hospital recommended. Of course, he doesn’t want to go. The man’s just been fighting for breath, yet his first response is to avoid hospitalisation. I over-rule him with no apology and stuff him in the ambulance. Knowing him well, as I do, I don’t include his wallet or keys in the little bag I pack for him. I don’t want him doing a runner – he’s a definite flight risk – but at least he’s in PJs and slippers. Meanwhile I’m staying home because the dog has just had a general anaesthetic and is being syringed water thanks to the big plastic cone neck thing, and the husband insists that she cannot be left.

I call the boy on his mobile for updates as he lies on a trolley in the circus that is routine at any busy A&E. By midnight he’s admitted. I still can’t convince him to tell me what ward he’s on. He can’t remember.

Imagine my surprise when I decide to outwit him by phoning the hospital, next day, to ask them, instead, what ward he’s on so I can leave the dog for an hour to visit him.

They can’t find him. Twenty minutes later it’s established he’s been discharged at his own request. And that was half an hour ago. ‘Where is he then?’ I ask. ‘He’s got no money and no keys and he was brought in by ambulance,’ I say. ‘We don’t know.’ is the answer.

All stealth-stalking abandoned I call his mobile with fingers crossed he’s still breathing and hopefully sitting on a bench about to call me.

No, he answers cheerily instead. He decided to walk home from the hospital. It’s about four miles. And he’s doing it down the canal bank so I’ve no way of picking him up in any kind of vehicle.

Note to self, I think, next time I’ll take his ruddy shoes too. Once home the battle begins where I put my foot down and tell him to rest and he starts talking about splitting some logs and doing a little light welding. It’s a no from me.

By now I have his chest infection and I’m in bed, fortunately without the breathing problems. He yells upstairs, ‘What are we doing with these potatoes in the big pan?’ I shout, well whisper hoarsely as loud as I can, ‘Planting them, they’re all sprouty and I didn’t have anything else to put them in. I’m going to plant them in tyres at the weekend.’ I’d been inspired by Mawdsley’s Red Lion’s Rufforth Run vintage vehicle potato version of a Boujolais Run – featuring Rufford’s finest spuds that weekend. Before all the blue flashing lights and paramedics – yes, and in the spirit of thrift - I’d been planning to ‘grow my own crisps’. Since himself has arrived home, he’s been asking what’s for dinner. And recounting longingly his order for dinner from the NHS menu that he left behind. Pie. Meat and Potato Pie. Men really like pie. The boy mountaineers up the stairs to my sick bed an hour later looking smug. He hasn’t done any big physical work, but he’s cleaned two small bags of sprouty potatoes and boiled them for supper. My dreams of thrifty, homegrown snacks next season have clearly had their chips.