Author: Whiting Landscape
A huge well done to our intrepid cycling team who took part in the “Gazeley Tour 19” on Wednesday, September 25th in aid of Dementia UK.
Their 60 mile Challenge commenced at Magna Park in Lutterworth, taking them on a tour around the countryside and market towns of Leicestershire.
Richard Keay, one of our Directors said: “Organisation on the day was fab, incredible buffet waiting for us at the finish line, scenic route and we were quite lucky with the weather apart from a few showers throughout the morning – it could have been much worse!”
A phenomenal £10,300 was raised for Dementia UK which will help to provide specialist Admiral Nurses to support families affected by this condition. Admiral nurses work alongside families to give them the one-to-one support, expert guidance and practical solutions they need to face dementia with more confidence and less fear.
Congratulations Team Whiting and everyone else who took part in this gruelling challenge ……. what’s next?!
For the fourth year running now our team have taken part in the Prologis 100K cycle. This year it was in and around the beautiful Malvern Hills, as you can imagine they had quite a task ahead of them!
On Thursday 12th September the usual troops from the Whiting team set off on their route, which began at the foot of the hills. 135 other challengers joined them and after 5 hours in the saddle our lads had completed the circuit.
Over £37,000 has been collected in sponsorship from all those who participated, to raise funds for Mind, Cure Leukaemia and Land Aid.
Richard Keay, one of our Directors said: “Prologis 100 Challenge time again, toughest one I have done so far. A clear crisp start to the day and then the hard slog up to the top of the Malvern Hills. 35 miles of climbing then a nice run to Tewkesbury, couple of pub stops in Upton and Callow, then back in time to watch the end of the cricket!! A brilliantly organised day and route.
On Wednesday 4th September two team members from Whiting and two of our clients from Prologis teamed up for the annual golf tournament at Droitwich Golf Club to help raise funds for St Richard’s Hospice.
The event started at 12 noon and each team played 18 holes before an informal two-course evening meal to finish with an awards presentation.
Jon Murphy, FM Commercial Manager at Whiting said: “Great day out, competition was fierce and to top it off we lifted the trophy, winners of the 2019 ‘Graham Robertson Memorial Cup Champions’. It was a well organised event and makes it all worthwhile to help support St Richard’s Hospice”.
The funds raised will help provide care to patients with serious progressive illnesses, their families and bereaved people in Worcestershire.
St Richard’s hospice is a local charity to us so we like to be able to help, donate and support whenever we can, roll on next year!
We recently invited landscape architects from across the Midlands and beyond to our tree and shrub nurseries at Wildmoor Lane, Bromsgrove, for an Open Afternoon.
On Thursday, July 11th over 40 architects attended two informative presentations made by Peter Flugge of Hamburg growers Von Ehren Nurseries, and Andrew Richardson from Johnsons Nurseries of Whixley, near York. Peter spoke about semi-mature tree production and supply and Andrew gave an explanation relating to the production of shrubs for the amenity market.
Both speakers faced questions and expanded on the challenges that the Landscape Industry currently faces, among them climate change, pests and diseases and the impact that this is having on stock. The presentations were followed by a tour of our extensive tree and shrub nurseries where the guests were able to view in excess of 1500 semi-mature trees and 20,000 specimen shrubs.
Architects were given a practical demonstration of underground guying and an explanation of tree sizing where they were able to view and compare the range of tree sizes from 16 – 18cm to 45 -50 cm.
A mobile, wood fired pizza truck provided a variety of delicious homemade pizzas and salads throughout the afternoon and drinks were available from a converted horse box which served as a bar.
The event was rounded off with the arrival of Dean’s Traditional Ice Cream Van and a queue soon formed for a selection of gorgeous salted caramel, mint and vanilla with raspberry 99’s – not forgetting the chocolate flakes!!
On Sunday June 23rd, team members from Whiting Landscape took part in an all day ” Paddle, Plod and Pedal ” challenge to raise funds for St Richard’s Hospice, Worcester.
Following a 7am start from Pershore Youth Centre, the team began their day by rowing down the River Avon to Tewkesbury (Paddle), followed by a cross country walk on to Severn Stoke at Kempsey (Plod).
Finally, to finish the challenge, they cycled back to Pershore (Pedal) for refreshments and a well deserved hog roast!
Each task spanned between 13 – 15 miles, covering 45 miles overall through the Worcestershire countryside.
Spirits were high, with lots of team work involved and some competitiveness, but all in all they had a lot of fun. The team thought it was a really well organised event and that it was good to have the different variety of challenges. Some even said they would do it again!
Whitings managed to raise a whopping £3,793.94 for St Richard’s Hospice, smashing their target!
Until next year …………
On Friday 17th May volunteers from our client Prologis and Whiting teamed up together to help improve the facilities at Crick Primary School.
Crick Primary School is a mainstream school based in Northamptonshire and houses 193 children.
Our Operations Director Wayne Bridges gave a detailed brief for the day, so everyone knew what they were doing in order to complete in time.
Our brief was to rebuild, install and improve existing and new features at the school to make it a more pleasant and welcoming place for the school children to spend their play times.
The task in hand was fairly complex. A new outdoor classroom was assembled for the children and the outdoor activity area was also enlarged. New seating areas were installed and painted around the trees in the playground, so that the children had somewhere shaded to sit.
The completed improvements have benefited the School in many ways making it a more enjoyable space for the children to spend their breaks.
Wayne commented that ‘the end result is fantastic. The amount of effort and hard work that has gone into the day from each and every person is overwhelming. The appreciation from the School children was so touching it makes it all worthwhile’.
The day was a great success and the works will provide benefits and enjoyment for years to come!
Our FM Contracts Manager Todd Jeffery completed the London Marathon on Sunday 28th April and raised in excess of a whopping £1800 to help Asthma UK.
Todd has taken part in various other marathons to date which included the Brighton Marathon two weeks earlier that he completed in 3 hours 45 in preparation for the London challenge.
Supported on the day by his partner Alison, Todd recorded an incredible time of 3:44:07.
It was Todd’s first time running the London Marathon and he described it later, saying ‘What an amazing day, unforgettable experience!! The support and cheers from the crowd were incredible, kept me going the whole way’!
Well done Todd – Smashed it!
Whiting Landscape are pleased to announce we were the winners of a British Association of Landscape Industries National Principal Award at the 2018 Awards Ceremony held at London Mayfair’s Grosvenor House Hotel on Friday December 7th. The winning scheme that we submitted, in the Regeneration less than £500k category, was for the Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire.
The Petwood Hotel is famously remembered as being the Officer’s Mess for the legendary RAF 617 Dambusters Squadron in 1944 and 1945, referred to by Second World War pilots as “……a splendid place remote from battle.” On the night of May 16th – 17th 1943, 133 aviators flew out towards Germany as part of a daring attack on the Ruhr Valley dams earning them the nickname “Dambusters”. 53 of them never returned.
The Hotel also has another claim to fame though; the fine gardens were designed by Harold Peto, one of the most celebrated landscape designers of the 20th Century. Unfortunately these historic gardens had fallen into disrepair and had been subject to vandalism and theft. Whiting Landscape were appointed by Landscape Architects Park Hood to realise the vision to “…restore and upgrade the historic gardens as designed and originally realised in 1913 – 14.” The extensive undertaking was to provide a “…functional, beautiful setting for the Hotel throughout the seasons”, restoring the gardens sympathetically and with preservation of the context and setting of the Grade 2 Listed Building.
Whiting, won this prestigious Principal Award for the rebuilding of the Temple of Atalanta at Petwood; restoration works to the Terrace and long walk and the Dutch Sunken Garden; extensive new drainage and the installation of new lawns and entrance piers.
We would like to thank everyone who contributed to the regeneration of the Petwood Gardens and especially Emma Brealey, Director of the Hotel, for all her support and assistance throughout the project.
What a way to end 2018!
On September 11th, three members of the Whiting team were invited to take part in a charity sailing day, hosted by our client Winvic Construction.
The event took place in The Solent off Portsmouth and twenty six boats participated in 3 races, each covering 6 -7 miles. Every race lasted for a duration of approximately 45 minutes with a crew of 10 to each boat.
With the wind blowing a force 6, the conditions were quite challenging and this resulted in several collisions around the buoys.
Our Financial Director, experienced and seasoned sailor Laurence Upcott commented, “It was a fun, yet challenging day and a great opportunity for team building with other suppliers.”
The day was in aid of The Bee Hive, a Northampton based charity chosen by Winvic. Although the event involved a lot of fun, it also helped raise a fantastic amount of money for the charity – The Beehive being a post 16 vocational setting for young people with Special Educational Needs.
