Press releases
Stanley schoolchildren flying high with bird box competition for new Stanley Primary Care Centre
(30 October, 2009)
Schoolchildren from Stanley have had their winning bird box designs unveiled in the courtyard of the town’s brand new Primary Care Centre.
Children from Greenland Junior School and St Joseph’s RCVA Primary School were encouraged to use their creativity to design whacky bird boxes that could be installed in the £12m Primary Care Centre’s courtyard.
The children submitted ideas for the boxes and a shortlist of five designs was created to mirror the original designs as closely as possible, whilst also ensuring they were suitable for an outdoor climate.
The winning designs were submitted by Mary Kilby, Michael Brown and Jenifer Davison, formerly of St Joseph’s RCVA Primary School and now at St Bede’s RC School in Lanchester and Lauren Musgrove and Bailey Gilbert from Greenland Juniors School.
Non-executive director, Keith Tallintire unveiled the final five bird boxes at an informal event last week, attended by the children, their parents and teachers.
Keith Tallintire said: “You could tell that the children had a lot of fun designing the boxes and it was really great to see their faces when the boxes were unveiled and they saw their designs in real life for the first time. The boxes add a real fun feel to the courtyard area at the new centre that we hope children from all over the area will enjoy when they visit.”
Debbie Edwards, assistant director of strategic projects and developments said: “The idea of the bird boxes came from talking with the local community, the artist responsible for arts in the new centre and built upon the success of the poster competition we held with local schools in 2008. We were delighted with the response from local schools, who really embraced the competition with enthusiasm and showed how creative they are with the final designs.
“Getting local people involved in the centre has always been a top priority for us, ever since before the centre was even built. We have developed strong links with our stakeholder group and hope that they continue to be involved as the centre grows and becomes a real asset for them and everyone else in Stanley and the surrounding area.
“I’m also really pleased that the children were involved in a project that has led to something tangible being created and will be displayed in the courtyard area for them to visit and reflect in years to come: ‘I did that!’”
The new Stanley Primary Care Centre brings together a wide range of services under one roof, in a modern healthcare environment and will help to regenerate Stanley town centre.
The centre is home to:
• Stanley Medical Group
• Drs Partha and Mallika
• X-ray and ultrasound
• Adult physiotherapy
• Minor ops
• Podiatry
• Child Development Centre
• Children’s Therapy Services
• Community Dental Services
The centre was designed to make a strong architectural statement in Stanley town centre and feedback from visitors has been very positive.
The following feedback has been recorded in the centre’s comments book:
“Very impressive building with excellent facilities. Very futuristic design and a big improvement from last clinic.”
“Loads of space, gorgeous building.”
“Excellent! Great building, very caring staff and doctors.”
Attached photo: Pictured with their winning bird box designs in the courtyard of the new Stanley Primary Care Centre are (L to R): Mary Kilby, Michael Brown, Lauren Musgrove, Bailey Gilbert and Jenifer Davison.
Navigation and general section-based content follows.
