Just an hour - 2006
Durham
Harelaw School Challenge - October 2006
Harelaw school, Anfield Plain, County Durham, caters for pupils who suffer from learning difficulties or autism. As part of a bigger project, a wildlife pond was created in the grounds of the School.
Elemore Hall School, Pittington – August 2006
Elemore Hall is a day and residential Special School catering for the social, emotional, behavioural and educational need for approximately 72 boys and girls in the secondary age range. The Headmaster asked us to create a long-jump pit, shot-putt circle and javelin run-up. Benefit: pupils are given the opportunity to achieve in through sports activity.
Leonard Cheshire at Crook – August 2006
Volunteers took part in a challenge to tidy up the gardens at the Leonard Cheshire Residential home at Crook. The grounds are extensive and the home relies on volunteers to manage the garden as all funds are concentrated on caring for residents and they cannot employ a gardener. Benefit: Low maintenance garden created – volunteers intend to return this year.
Weardale Railway – July 2006
Just an Hour volunteers helped the Weardale Railway Trust get ready for its re-opening by helping to give the stations a face-lift and assisting with clearing and cleaning the tracks.
Villa Real Special Needs School – June/July 2006
Villa Real school at Derwentside caters for pupil aged from two years to nineteen years all of whom have severe or profound and multiple learning difficulties or autism. The school needed help with a number of tasks including painting a breeze block wall; painting markings on the ground around the outside of the school for games orienteering etc; laying a path through trees and helping to make a bird hide; creating a sensory garden.
Pity Me Nature Reserve – June 2006
General maintenance work on local nature reserve with Council employees.
Beach Clean-up at Seaham – June 2006
Removing debris and litter from the beach.
Eco Rangers – May 2006
Eco Rangers is a programme to encourage children to become more environmentally aware. Our volunteers run a Waterwise quiz to make children aware of how precious water is to health and the environment. Benefit: over 1800 children from 39 schools have been introduced to environmental issues.
St. Charles RCVA Primary School – March/April 2006
Project to create an anti-bullying garden at the school. A safe haven was created in the school grounds were children can find a quiet place away from hustle and bustle. Benefit: the school has a lasting legacy and children are more aware of the issues surrounding bullying.
Newcastle / Northumberland
Prudhoe Aged Person Party – December 2006
Annual Christmas event organised by two ladies who want to give senior members of the community a Christmas treat. Parties are held over three days and volunteers offer assistance such as serving food, washing up, etc. Benefit: 900 senior citizens enjoyed a Christmas event assisted by our volunteers.
Mowbray First School – Choppington – December 2006
The school wanted to develop a garden area for children in the foundation stage unit to encourage them to plant seeds and flowers, to care for them, develop an awareness of wildlife and generally instil a caring attitude towards the environment in a very practical way. To this end, volunteers helped to dismantle a storage shed which is currently sited on the only grassed area in the grounds of the unit and relocated it in the adjoining middle school.
Norwood Nature Park – August 2006
Next to nature is an environmental outreach project bringing people and wildlife together in urban Gateshead. Several areas of natural green space provide local people with the opportunity to enjoy regular contact with wildlife. Several tasks were undertaken including path clearance and management of grassland.
The Watch House, Cullercoats – June 2006
Tasks included removing and cleaning metal grilles, cleaning off rust and repainting. Tthe team cleaned up the window frames, masked the windows, undercoated and gloss painted the frames. The metal grilles were refitted to the respective windows.
Design Engineering Challenge – May 2006
Volunteers took part in this initiative through Business in the Community. The objective was to introduce children to engineering. Volunteers worked with groups of children from various schools to design and invent a gadget that would enhance the life of a young person with disabilities. Benefit: raising pupil awareness of design engineering as a possible career option.
Leonard Cheshire Challenge – May 2006
Volunteers support out sponsorship of the Leonard Cheshire weekend at Calvert Trust where disabled people are given the opportunity to experience activities such as sailing, abseiling, archery etc. Volunteers ‘buddy’ a Leonard Cheshire client over the weekend and help them achieve their aims. Benefit: disabled people given the opportunity to experience activities beyond their expectations.
Christchurch School Feng Shui Garden – May 2006
The children at the school required help to transform a neglected piece of land within the school grounds into a quiet garden they could share with the residents of neighbouring sheltered housing accommodation. Tasks included laying a pondliner, arranging stones and other landscape features and planting up of the site.
Laing Art Gallery – March 2006
Volunteers were set the task of helping the Laing Art Gallery archive some of its valuable historic publications as part of a team building exercise.
Teesside
Bowes Museum – August 2006
Employees repaired the fountain which is at the main entrance to The Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle, County Durham. The fountain, which is set in a pond built in the late 1800s and now proudly shoots water 20 feet in the air, has not worked for a decade. Other employees archived historical documents and undertook general tidying up tasks.