Member Article

Flooring donation helps charitable school project

A Kent flooring retailer has supported a project aimed at giving a group of young offenders the skills and experience which will hopefully enable them to turn their lives around.

Flooring Superstore, which is based on the Trade City Retail Park in Motherwell Way, Thurrock, has gifted artificial grass used in a gardening and landscape project being overseen by the Construction Youth Trust charity.

The charity recently worked with a group of local young offenders to refurbish a play area at Owls Pre-School, an under-funded children’s nursery in Northfleet. The aim of the project was to enable the young people to learn landscaping, gardening and other skills, such as carpentry, so they can possibly then move onto more formal training and hopefully leave their offending past behind.

All of the materials being used to refurbish the play area were donated, as was the time of the volunteers helping the young people.

Heather Syers, a Volunteer for the Construction Youth Trust charity, said: “We worked with the young people to build a raised sandpit, picnic benches, storage boxes and a wooden noticeboard.

“We noticed that the current grassed area the children used had become damaged so we approached Flooring Superstore and asked if they could offer any flooring.

“We were therefore delighted when they donated all of the artificial grass we needed free of charge. That saved us almost £300, which is amazing. “The grass was the final piece of the puzzle and now acts as a great centrepiece of the new play area.”

Flooring Superstore Regional Manager, Ian Robinson, said: “This was a very worthwhile project and we were only too pleased to offer our support.

“Artificial grass is increasingly being used in outdoor play areas as it is low maintenance and can be used year-round, whatever the weather.

“So, the children will now have a lovely area to play and just as importantly the skills being gained by the young people who helped to create it will hopefully stand them in good stead in the future.”

The young people involved in the project may now be able to undertake a health and safety level 1 qualification and a Construction Skills Certification Scheme accreditation. This provides proof that individuals working on construction sites have the appropriate training and qualifications for the job they do on site.

The Flooring Superstore in Thurrock houses one of the largest collections of carpet, vinyl, solid wood, engineered wood and laminate floors in the UK. As well as Flooring Superstore, shoppers have access to two further brands instore, Direct Wood Flooring and Grass Direct.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Neil Shaefer .