Member Article

Local businesses support community centre

Since Oldham builder Emanuel Whittaker has been working to improve housing stock on the Derker Estate, as part of its contract with First Choice Homes Oldham, they have been keen to do what they can to support the local community too.

Emanuel Whittaker Site Manager Mark Coyle said: “Emanuel Whittaker is renowned for going above and beyond the call of duty where we can - and as well as fitting new kitchens and bathrooms to First Choice Homes Oldham’s properties, our team has established good working relationships with other groups and individuals in the area.”

NEON is a community network in East Oldham which enables local voluntary and community groups to come together and share resources, experiences and skills. The NEON community centre on Holt Street hosts regular job clubs, provides lifelong learning classes, free health checks, arts and crafts activities, citizens advice sessions, ICT training and a café for locals to meet and have a chat.

One of the rooms was in urgent need of an update and so Councillor Angela Cosgrove, a keen advocate of the Centre decided to ask Mark and his team if they could help.

“Emanuel Whittaker has always been generous with its time and resources and I asked if they would be able to give a former storage/interview room a bit of a face lift so that we could utilise it as another community room,” she said.

Emanuel Whittaker sub-contractors Druggitt & Harding Ltd and HR Painters & Decorators were also keen to do their bit and so made the update a genuine community effort. The furniture was removed from the room, it was cleaned and then new skirting boards added, pipework was boxed in and the room was painted resulting in more usable space for this busy community centre.

Councillor Cosgrove said: “This is not the first time Emanuel Whittaker has responded to my call to action. Only last month local residents were concerned that youngsters were using a cut through to cause a nuisance. Emanuel Whittaker used supplies from their yard and their labour to erect a gate which meant they were no longer able to cut through.

“Everyone at the NEON Centre is really grateful to all those companies involved and it’s lovely to see local businesses working together for the benefit of the local neighbourhood.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Emanuel Whittaker .