THE POWER OF COLLABORATION

Bolton at Home are a leading social housing provider, managing over 18,000 properties across Bolton. They invest to improve the quality of their properties for tenants and build new homes to give as many people as they can the opportunity to live in high-quality, affordable houses. BAH go far beyond providing bricks and mortar for their clients.  Their goal, to create homes and neighbourhoods that residents can be proud of, is at the heart of everything they do. Through the facilitation of several community support services, such as debt and money advice, food and clothes initiatives, and supporting tenants into training and employment, BAH strive to make a lasting difference to the lives of people across the region. BAH’s award winning Apprenticeship & Training programme trains 12 apprentices each year. The programme provides people of all ages the opportunity to undertake an apprenticeship within a wide variety of roles within the housing sector.

Seddon have worked with BAH for many years and in December 2023 BAH approached Seddon to support two of their second-year apprentice roofers, Mackye Lord and Aaron Dalton, who needed to undertake specific types of roofing work to complete their apprenticeship modules. Some of the work BAH could not offer the learners as their extensive portfolio was mainly housing stock. Seddon liaised with their valued supply chain member, Complete Roofing Systems (CRS), who were able to provide the learners with the work necessary to complete their required apprenticeship modules and s8uccessfully undertake their end point assessment (EPA).

Collaboration with supply chain partners provides an extensive resource on which to call when necessary to ensure training and development goals are achieved and the construction industry maintain a highly skilled workforce.

On a wet and windy day in March 2024, Seddon and their supply chain partners, Caromen and Complete Roofing Systems (CRS) supported BAH’s Community Impact Day on the Marlbrook Walk housing estate in Great Lever, which is managed by Bolton at Home. Great Lever is an area that experiences several challenges, including high unemployment and deprivation rates, and fly-tipping are a persistent challenge on the estate.

The existing wooden planters on-site in the communal areas were decayed and had become an unpleasant sight for residents. Volunteers came together to revitalise these areas, constructing and filling new replacement planters with soil, shrubs, and perennials, vastly improving the outlook of the communal areas on the estate. Volunteers also jet-washed the paving and footpaths on the estate. The estate’s bin stores had also fallen into disrepair and were not being utilised correctly. After jet-washing the bin stores and the surrounding areas, volunteers completely revamped the refuse areas housing the bins by creating wooden cladding, making the bin stores look more much more appealing.

BAH also worked with local children from the area, educating them on the importance of sustainability and the need to take care of their local environment. The children created eye-catching wooden plaques to fix to the bin stores to demonstrate the benefits or recycling, to encourage residents to dispose of their waste responsibly. 

Working collaboratively with our supply chain partners enhances the effectiveness of community impact projects such as this by pooling our resources, expertise, man-power, and local engagement to address pressing community needs.