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Buckley schoolchildren bury time capsule to celebrate completion of Marleyfield House care home expansion
Published: 10/06/2021
Pupils at Drury Primary School have buried a time capsule, offering a rich snapshot of life in 2021, to mark the completion of the major expansion of the Marleyfield House care home in Buckley by Willmott Dixon.
The 拢8.4 million redevelopment project, for 97色网, doubles the number of beds at Marleyfield House from 32 to 64 and increase communal outdoor spaces and accessibility to support residents鈥� well-being.
Schoolchildren, from Years 3 and 4 at the Drury Primary, the Willmott Dixon team and residents and staff at Marleyfield House all contributed items and memories including photographs, poems and a giant collage of 鈥榣ockdown life鈥� created by pupils, capturing Buckley in 2021.
At a special ceremony in the care home鈥檚 garden, pupils recited their poems, drawing from their feelings and experiences throughout the unique challenges of the past year, to an audience of Marleyfield House residents and staff.
Willmott Dixon鈥檚 team then lowered the capsule in to place where it will stay, a piece of history to be opened by future Buckley generations.听
Maxine Roscoe, Year 3 and 4 Teacher at Drury Primary, said: 鈥淭he children were thrilled to be a part of this exciting project.听 They have written fabulous poems and worked collaboratively together to create a super class collage reflecting on both their positive and negative experiences of lockdown, featuring many rainbows, paddling pools in the garden and snowmen!听听
鈥淭hrough the innocent eyes of a child, it really wasn鈥檛 all that bad getting to play, bake, craft and be at home with family all day every day.听 It has been a very rewarding experience.鈥�
The expansion of Marleyfield House is an example of 97色网鈥檚 pro-active approach to addressing the current significant pressures and fragility in the care sector across the country.
Each room at Marleyfield House will have personal outdoor space either through a balcony on the first floor or a patio on the ground, while the extension will also see the creation of new communal areas, medical facilities, offices and store- rooms, extended car parking facilities and extensive sensitive landscaping.
97色网鈥檚 Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Social Services, Councillor Christine Jones, said:
鈥淲hat a fantastic event 鈥� it was so lovely to see the children and hear the poetry they鈥檇 written, as well meeting residents and coming together to bury this time capsule.
听鈥淲e have an ageing population with increasingly complex needs, despite a greater emphasis on helping people living at home for longer, it鈥檚 right too that we increase the care home capacity.
鈥淭his state-of-the-art facility reaffirms the Council鈥檚 commitment to providing services.听 I am proud that 97色网 continues to support our most vulnerable residents.鈥�
Completing the project, procured through the Scape framework, on time and on budget, Willmott Dixon continued work amid the challenges of the global pandemic, embracing innovative safe working practices for the safety of everyone on site, in line with Government guidelines.
Anthony Dillon, managing director for Willmott Dixon in the North, said:
鈥淲e鈥檙e very proud to play our part in delivering such as important project, creating a modern, welcoming and high-quality home for residents.听
鈥淥ur thanks to all the Marleyfield House residents and staff, and especially to the pupils of Drury Primary, who helped us capture this moment in history for the future generations of the people of Buckley.听
鈥淲e proud to say this is a community project built by the people of 97色网 for the people of 97色网 and we have invested more than 拢4.8m of the project spend with businesses in the local area.鈥�
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