Peter Swift, Director at Dunwoodie Architects tells the unusual story of a digger, a train and a project manager.
Once upon a time a school secretary knocked on the door of a builder’s site cabin and asked if she could borrow his digger….
Sound a bit far fetched? It may very well do but it is actually true & led to an interesting tale. In 2019, Adam Ryan, Senior Project Manager at building contractor ISG ltd, was sitting in his cabin on site at a now completed large distribution facility at Bowburn in County Durham when he received a knock at his door. At the door was Lesley Smith, School Secretary at Kirk Merrington Primary School in Spennymoor, County Durham. She said she wondered if he could loan her a JCB so she could rearrange some levels within the grounds of her school. Not surprisingly, this wasn’t a question that Adam had been asked before. That moment has changed Adam’s life over the last couple of years.
The reason Lesley wanted to borrow a digger was that she had ‘acquired’ two carriages of a train which were now located within the school grounds adjacent to the children’s playground. The story goes that the school has become massively oversubscribed over the last few years, having received excellent Ofsted ratings, to the extent that where there were previously 80 pupils there are now 140. This had led the school to convert a purpose-built technology room, library and IT Suite into classrooms to accommodate the additional children.
With her never say die attitude, and with the full support of Headteacher, Nicola Murray, Lesley set about finding a way to create new educational space. She then entered a competition to win a train… I kid you not! Unfortunately, Lesley was shortlisted but ultimately unsuccessful in winning one of three carriages, but not one to be easily beaten, she then, with the help of one of the school Governors, Mick Hodgeson, operational director at National Rail, ‘set the wheels in motion’ to try and find another train which could be brought to the school. A couple of carriages were donated which today sit proudly overlooking the beautiful Durham countryside. ISG Ltd had a Social Value Committee on site who agreed to donate time, facilities & materials to help the project become a reality. Lesley has a firm philosophy that if every child dreams they can achieve, so the project was named ‘Dare to Dream’.
In April this year Adam approached me & said he had been following with interest the development of our business over the last couple of years, with particular reference to our work bringing old shipping containers to life at both Newcastle and Seaburn STACK developments. Adam thought we would be the perfect people to help the Dare to Dream project become a reality. Things moved quickly after that & we met with both Lesley & Nicola and set about designing a scheme to accommodate a library & sensory space in the two carriages. The initial challenge was to get the children into the train whilst complying with all relevant building regulations. This has led to the creation of what has become affectionately known as ‘Teletubby Hill’, which incorporates a meandering ramp using the natural contours and what is essentially a very shallow gradient to get up to the train floor level.
The school has been overwhelmed by offers of help from members of staff, Governors & parents, many of whom have contacts and skills in relevant trades and sectors. Even Hitachi, who manufacture trains in nearby Newton Aycliffe, have offered to help. However, whilst time is being offered free gratis, along with some materials, there will undoubtedly be a financial shortfall when it comes to fitting out the carriages and creating the library and sensory space, so if anyone feels they would like to help in any small way and support the Dare to Dream project they only have to go to gofund.me/995cd61d and make a donation, no matter how small, and they may be able to make a small but valuable contribution to this very worthwhile and admirable project. In the words of School Secretary, Lesley, ‘Shy bairns get nowt!’
