Clarion Housing

The Equans team in Essex have returned to provide additional support for Essex based charity, Trust Links.

Further to helping getting a garden ready for a grand opening in May, Equans have returned to Basildon just weeks later to provide additional support to ensure the Growing Together project run by charity, Trust Links is a resounding success.

Equans staff returned to Trust Link's Community Mental Health Centre in Basildon in the later part of May to help install a new kitchen. Working in partnership with supply chain members, DCK Construction, Equans fitted the new kitchen just in time for the grand opening at the newly renovated garden.

Equans previously visited the charity's garden in Basildon to help carry out improvement works.

"It is such an amazing space, thanks so much for all the hard work and support." Trust Links Charity Representative

Equans volunteers recently provided support for a community garden project in Basildon for Essex based charity, Trust Links.

In May volunteers from Equans including Social Value Manager, Patrick Warren and Social Value Officer, Richard Sanz, came together to help provide support for a charity community project in Basildon, Essex called Growing Together.

The Growing Together project which is run by local charity, Trust Links, aims to provides a safe, welcoming and inclusive space for adults, improving mental health, physical health and wellbeing. Once gardens become available, members of the charity can enjoy a range of gardening activities and can also complete horticulture qualifications.

To get the garden ready for a grand opening and over the duration of an entire day, Equans volunteers carried out painting, planting and barrowing soil into a large flower bed.

Trust Links offer therapeutic gardening, recovering classes, social activities, employability support, training and environmental workshops for it's members. They work with around 4,000 people each year and specialise in mental health, wellbeing and the environment within Essex.

Thanks to a digital drop-in session delivered by Equans in May, residents in Essex now have a better understanding of the internet and how to easily use their digital devices.

Equans' Social Value Manager, Patrick Warren was joined by his colleagues including Social Value Officer, Richard Sanz, to help deliver a digital drop-in session for residents in Maldon, Essex. The session had the aim of providing a better understanding of the digital world and the internet for daily tasks for those they require a little help with today's technology.

Volunteers from Equans generously gave up their time to give advice and help residents understand how to do some everyday online tasks such as setting up email accounts, booking holidays as well as tips on using cameras and also little tricks to make navigating their digital devices a little easier.

Hawthorn Court has a fresh new look after works have been undertaken by the West Midlands Equans team.

All communal areas have been redecorated and new flooring has been laid.

Resident guidance is now available regarding caring for your kitchen - this includes advice and handy tips when it comes to looking after your newly refurbished kitchen.

Please click here to read Kitchen Unit Care or Kitchen Worktop Care - both can also be found within our Document Library.

A fresh batch of Equans volunteers take over to bring redecoration works at the Organ Hall community centre in Hertfordshire to an end, bringing new life into the centre.

After initially preparing the walls for new paint, works began within the main hall and storage area and a new group of volunteers took over in the latter part of the week to finish painting the centre.

Equans' Social Value Manager, Patrick Warren who organised this initiative commented: "It was a real pleasure carrying out the works on this hall as it offers a wide range of activities for the local community. Thank you AkzoNobel for their generous paint donation to support the project and a big thank you to all our volunteers for their hard work throughout the week!"

A community hall in Hertfordshire has been given a fresh new lick of paint this month thanks to volunteers from Equans.

In March, works started at the Organ Hall community centre in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, where volunteers from Equans are spending the week preparing and painting the main hall and storage area to give the community a nice space to enjoy for various events.

This activity was organised and co-ordinated by Social Value Manager, Patrick Warren as part of our social value commitments to Clarion Housing Group.

In 2022, Equans partnered with Clarion and Leeds Building Society, along with several other partners and supporters to transform one of Leeds Building Society's old office buildings in Peterborough, into accommodation for Ukrainian refugees.

Early in the year, Equans Social Value Manager, Julian Sanz, popped along to a storage warehouse in Grays, Thurrock, to help facilitate the donation of furniture to the refugee housing project, which saw Clarion donating furniture from their show homes to furnish all the living spaces.

Communal Kitchen	Communal Toilets	Double Room

Equans - with the help of supply chain partners, KM ECO Ltd, Moores Furniture Group and Dulux, supported the scheme through helping to facilitate furniture donation, providing paint and decorating, process waste clearance, and upgrading the kitchen and communal areas.

Living Room	Single Room	Shower Room

"This multi-party initiative saw us coming together to convert some disused office space into refugee housing to the local Peterborough area, allowing some of the most vulnerable people in the community to have somewhere warm, dry and safe to stay where they can rebuild their lives." James Cousins, Regeneration Director for Equans

Click here to view our accompanying video.

Equans covers funds to provide timber and other construction materials needed to create a new large community and sensory garden in Basildon, Essex.

In December 2022, Equans' Social Value Manager, Julian Sanz, visited the Vange Community Centre in Basildon, where Equans are part funding a large youth initiative with Trustlinks.

A disused area of green space to the rear of the community centre, is being transformed into a new large community and sensory garden that will include 9 raised beds, 2 large ponds, a sensory garden and 2 rustic style cabins that will be used to engage local youth and tackle anti-social behaviour issues in the area.

As part of our social value activities on behalf of Clarion, Equans funded the timber and construction of all the raised beds and ponds, as well as the kitchen which has been generously donated by our supply chain partners, Moores Furniture Group.

Thanks to support from Equans, students attending Clarion's 'Local to Global' event in November were given a valuable insight into the world of retrofit solutions.

Earlier this month, Equans' Head of Retrofit Technical Solutions, Alice Monty, joined colleague Julian Sanz, Social Value Manager, and visited Clarions' offices to attend the event and speak with students about her own career and the many reasons why a career in retrofit is a very worthwhile one.

On the day students from several schools in areas where Equans is currently working were joined by Clarion apprentices and were engaged in a careers/presentation workshop.

Alice commented: "My industry is crying out for young people to join. I hope I can get involved with more events like this to support the retrofit revolution my colleagues in the industry and I are trying so hard to establish! It was also really great to hear the experiences of apprentices at Clarion and all about the other very excellent alternatives to traditional higher education that are now available to young people to get the 'jobs of the future'."