Gwersyllt School Children Get a Lesson in Site Safety

A national construction firm has visited a local primary school to give a talk on site safety.

Over 100 pupils from Ysgol Heulfan Primary in Gwersyllt took part in the talk, which took place during the school’s assembly.

The talk was organised by Novus Property Solutions, who are currently working with Wrexham Council to install new kitchens and bathrooms in the Council’s houses around the County Borough.

The session featured an interactive presentation on the various risks that come with the refurbishment works taking place in the area they live, such as scaffolding, increase in vans on the road, and staying away from the workers while they are working with tools.

Also in attendance was Novus the Bear, the contractor’s luminous furry mascot, who added a lively touch of colour to the presentations.

Novus Property Solutions’ Social and Community Officer, Ffion Smith, said: “We’ve recently been working with Wrexham Council on properties in the Gwersyllt North area as part of Wrexham Council’s kitchen and bathroom refurbishment programme.

“Ysgol Heulfan is located right in the middle of these properties and we thought that doing a talk on site safety at the school would be a really positive thing to do for the local area. We try to make these sessions fun, lively and interactive and the children seem to really enjoy it which is great for us to see.”

The children were also given the chance to design posters to enter in Novus Property Solutions’ ‘Stay Safe’ Poster competition. The winning entries will be featured at the contractor’s future work sites.

The improvement work in Gwersyllt is part of Wrexham Council’s extensive project to bring all its housing up to the Welsh Government’s Welsh Housing Quality Standard by the 2020 deadline.

All properties in the borough will be offered new kitchens and bathrooms as part of the project, if they don’t currently meet the standard.

Other external and internal improvements will also be carried out, where required, such as electrical rewires, central heating and external wall insulation.

The project received a boost recently when the Council’s Executive Board approved a £54m investment for work to continue over the next 12 months.

Local Member for Gwersyllt North, Cllr Michael Williams, said: “The work in this area of Gwersyllt is now nearly complete and it’s great to see that these properties have been modernised with new kitchens and bathrooms and will be fit for the future. I’d like to thank Novus Property Solutions for carrying out the work and for making a positive contribution to the area through involving the local schoolchildren and helping them to stay safe while the work is taking place.”

Community Benefit schemes such as the stay safe talk are now an integral part of the Council’s improvement programme. All contractors carrying out improvement work are required to ‘give something back’ to the local community and economy as part of their contract with the Council. As well as talks with local schools, this can also include hiring local workers, taking on apprentices, purchasing supplies from local businesses and refurbishing community buildings.

Lead Member for Housing, Cllr Ian Roberts, added: “The £54m represents a record investment in housing improvement work for Wrexham and will allow a huge amount of work to be carried out. We are working hard to ensure that as much of this money can be invested back into the local economy through Community Benefit schemes and it’s great to see that, as well as local spending and boosting jobs and training opportunities, our local schools have now been involved too.”

To date, Community Benefit schemes have resulted in at least 61 apprentices have been taken on, 36 employees have been provided with short term employment, 34 employees have been given long term employment and £63,197 has been donated as cash or in-kind to organizations or projects within Wales.