Wates Living Space Go Back To School

28 September, 2010

Staff from affordable housing contractor, Wates Living Space, have been angling for title of teacher’s pet by helping out at Surrey Square School in Walworth for the day, as part of the company’s annual community day.

A team of 19 people from Wates Living Space spent the day painting one of the school’s staircases, the nursery’s decking area and balustrade, and cataloguing more than 2000 books, dedicating a total of 214 hours to completing the work.

Not to be left out, the Wates Group Chairman and Chief Executive, Paul Drechsler, also went to the school to help out. Rather than giving him a paintbrush like his colleagues, the headteacher decided to put the CEO’s 35 years of experience in negotiation and leadership to good use and asked him to act as a library assistant for the day, reading to the school’s pupils aged from 5-11 years old.

Paul Drechsler, Chairman and CEO for Wates Group, said: “Wates’s community day is something I’m really proud to support.

“At all levels within the company, each staff member takes a day out of the office to work on something to benefit the local community they’re working in.

“Last year our staff carried out 89 different projects throughout the UK on community day, which has made a massive difference to the charities, community groups, and other worthwhile organisations that benefitted.

“It gives us a better perspective on the people and problems around us, and how we can go forward to help them.  It’s also a lot of fun for us - though I think I’ll hang onto my day job for now.”

In addition to Wates’s own staff, supply chain partners Woodlands PH and R Bensons also lent a hand to supply materials and get all of the work at the school finished on time.

Each year, Wates donates one working day when all its staff help carry out projects that benefit the local communities in which the company works.  Last year’s community day saw 1,050 people from the Wates Group contribute more than 10,000 hours on 89 community day projects, an investment worth more than £250,000.

Liz Robinson, Headteacher for Surrey Square School, said: “We are very grateful to the Wates Living Space team for their contribution. You can really see the difference they have made in the library and the gardens, and to the children who really enjoyed having them around. They have been a great help.”

To download this press release as a pdf click here

Categories: regeneration, affordable housing, people, london & south east

Tags: Community day, Southwark, Surrey Square School, Walworth