Run by the Bath Area Play Project charity, The Hut is a pre-school in Newton Road for children aged from 12 months to school age which allows youngsters to learn through play.
Lovell, which is building 56 homes on a development next to The Hut as part of Somer Community Housing Trust’s major regeneration programme, decided to see what could be done to help. Lovell community liaison officer Claire Westaway contacted Nationwide Windows, the window supplier for the Twerton development, and the company agreed to donate and fit seven brand-new double-glazed, uPVC windows for free.
Bath Area Play Project co-ordinator Caroline Haworth says: “The pre-school building has been well looked after – with a lot of support from our wonderful volunteers – but some parts were showing their age, including the wooden-framed windows. We were lucky enough to get a grant a while ago to replace some but it wasn’t enough to pay for them all. Having this help has been fantastic, especially in the current climate when grants are in short supply.
“The building looks really good and the new windows let in much more light than the old ones and will be much easier to maintain. We also think they will be much more efficient in terms of heat retention which should make a major difference with our heating bills.”
“The pre-school is right next to the regeneration development at Twerton and when we heard they were having problems, we were very keen to help,” says Lovell community liaison officer Claire Westaway. “We know from the work we are doing in Twerton that The Hut is very well-used and a much valued resource for the local community.” Local parents mounted a campaign to save the pre-school when it was under threat of closure in 2009. “We’re delighted to have been able to organise the window replacement and help create a warmer and more modern building for children and staff.”
Nationwide Windows regional sales manager Phil Whiting says: “Supporting the community is important to us and when Lovell approached our regional contracts manager Matthew Reed about the pre-school, we were only too pleased to get involved. We’re delighted that the pre-school is so happy with the new windows.”
Angela Gascoigne, Somer Community Housing Trust’s managing director, adds: “The Trust and Lovell have been working closely with the local community throughout this major programme to replace our old pre-cast reinforced concrete properties in Twerton. For us, building work is about much more than bricks and mortar: it is about investing in and building communities, so we are delighted that Lovell is supporting the Hut in this practical way.”
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