Cooks Lane, Sittingbourne

The Cooks Lane project will close down for the Christmas holidays at mid-day on Friday 20^th December and will reopen for the New Year on Thursday 2^nd January 2020.

During this time there will be 24-hour security on site, and should you need to contact them,

please contact Nationwide Security on 03333 209 712 option 2.

From all of the ENGIE team at Cooks Lane, we would like to thank you for all your patience and co-operation during our first 6 months on the project.

We would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Members of the Cooks Lane project including the ENGIE team, Sanctuary Homes and various subcontractors, all came together to donate food and toiletries to the local food bank in Sittingbourne.

It is difficult to think that anyone in our community should have to face going hungry, which is why the Swale Food Bank provides food and support to local people who are referred to them in crisis. They are part of a nationwide network of food banks, supported by The Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK.

To find out where your local food bank is located, and how you can donate items or volunteer your time, please visit the Swale Food Bank website.

https://swale.foodbank.org.uk/

ENGIE is committed to working with local charitable organisations, schools, colleges and community groups.

To date in 2019, we have engaged with a total of 1,196 students!

During December we attended a Careers Fair at the Abbey School in Faversham which allowed students to engage with a number of local construction companies. This was a great opportunity for the students to ask questions about the industry, gain knowledge about apprenticeships and work experience, and ask questions specific to the job roles they are interested in undertaking once they leave school.

ENGIE organised for a “Pop up Clinic” to attend the Cooks Lane project to give site staff a mini MOT check including a Cholesterol check.

This is a great way for everyone to receive a general health check during work hours as due to commuting and busy schedules, it is sometimes hard for employees to find the time to see their GP.

Attendees included 9 ENGIE staff, 6 subcontractors, 4 agency staff and a member of the client team.

Our Senior Site Manager volunteered his time at The Bob Fowler Allotment, cutting back over grown hedge rows along the perimeter of the allotment boundary.

The allotment located in Milton is run by Dave and other local volunteers and is mainly used for the benefit of the local community, especially the more vulnerable sectors such as young children, special needs children and adults, older adults living alone, and those with mental health issues. Local schools also visit the allotment where pupils are taught the importance of growing their own produce.

ENGIE is delivering a number of training courses over the lifespan of the Cooks Lane project.

If you are interested in attending any of these courses listed below, please contact Vicky Bangay for further details on 07971 577 612. victoria.bangay@engie.com

These courses are FREE of charge and provide a great opportunity or local people to improve their knowledge and skills, gain industry recognised certification and improve career prospects.

General Information:

• Course location: ENGIE Site Office, Cooks Lane (Off Kings Street), Sittingbourne, Kent, ME10 2QD.
• Light refreshments will be provided but we recommend candidates bring lunch with them if needed.
• No PPE or CSCS Cards are required for any of these courses.
• Photo ID is needed for candidates attending the QNUK Level 1 Health & Safety Course.

Course Information:

• Vehicle Banksman Course - Tuesday 7th January, 8.30AM start.
• Manual Handling Course - Tuesday 7th January, PM.
• Fire Marshall Training - Wednesday 8th January, 8.30AM start.
• Asbestos Awareness Course - Wednesday 8th January, PM.
• QNUK Level 1 Health & Safety Course - Tuesday 18th February, All Day.
• QNUK Emergency First Aid at Work - Tuesday 25th February, All Day

To celebrate National Tree Planting Week, ENGIE donated a total of 220 trees to Milton Creek Country Park and arranged for volunteers to help plant the trees.

We would like to say a big thank you to all the volunteers who participated on the day, these included staff from both ENGIE and Sanctuary Homes, plus local residents.

The day was a great success and thank you to Kris Staples the Park Ranger for allowing ENGIE to arrange the Tree Planting event within the park.

A massive thank you to all of you that were able to participate in our joint ENGIE & Ground Control campaign this week to plant 1000 trees across the country.

Thanks to your hard word in the wind and rain we have collectively made a significant contribution to local wildlife, improved the air quality in our communities and ensure the removal of a significant quantity of carbon emissions from our atmosphere.

Kind regards

Dave March CEnv MIEMA MEI Tech IOSH

Group Environmental Manager

UK & Ireland

Congratulations to our Employees of the Month for November 2019.

Supervisor of the Month; Michael Regan – All Access Scaffolding

Operative of the Month; Shaun McGarry – ENGIE Labour

Michael Regan has exceeded expectations from the Clark of Works with the organisation and presentation of the companies scaffolding on site, and Shaun McGarry shows great work ethic and goes beyond his duties to ensure a job is completed efficiently.

Both were rewarded with a £15 Argos voucher.

Teams from both ENGIE and Sanctuary Homes were very excited to volunteer at the Wildwood Trust in Hernbay over the course of two days, helping to lay bark chippings and sweep leaves from pedestrian pathways, and clear stinging nettles from the bird of prey display grounds.

The Wildwood Trust is an amazing organization that links each of their animals at the Trust to a conservation programme, so that every species in captivity there is working to conserve its wild cousins.

This important conservation helps scientists in their studies to understand more about the needs of these animals in the wild and enables them to undertake practical work with other conservation organisations to help the species and the survival of an animal.

You can visit the Wildwood Trust website to find out how you can also help them continue with their vital conservation work, and how you can help protect the species of an animal.

https://wildwoodtrust.org/wildwood-kent/how-you-can-help

ENGIE attended Kemsley Primary Academy and carried out a Health & Safety Assembly to the whole school, explaining that building sites are dangerous to play in, and that they should not ever go onto one, even if a ball were to get kicked over the fence, we instrumented that they should speak to a teacher who could then speak to the site team as they must never enter a construction site.

2 young students dressed in PPE as the other students said what they thought our workers would wear on site and why.

After the assemlies, ENGIE carried out 4 of ENGIE's Building Challanges with years 3, 4, 5 & 6. This interactive session teaches pupils how to work as a team, but also encouranges core skills such as mathematics, observation, timekeeping, planning and organisation. They also learn about some of the roles within construction, supporting careers education and raising aspirations.