Replacing Hard Hats With Thinking Caps

Local school children donned hard hats and high visibility vests to visit the site of a new care home in Hersden, Canterbury.

Youngsters from Hersden Village Primary School let their imaginations run wild when they visited the site of Meadow View Residential and Nursing Home, off Blackthorn Road, to get inspiration for artwork to bury in a time capsule on the site.

Ten-year old pupils Jessica Barker, Nathan Wells and Reuben Jenkins were joined by their head teacher Jean Kennett and the soon-to-be Sanctuary Care home manager, Gill Stoddart-Rye for an exclusive tour of the site.

The pupils will now create artwork depicting what they think life will be like in 60 years’ time and to tell people about life in 2015. They will return to the site after the Easter holidays and bury their creations in a time capsule, which will be opened in 2075.

Talking about life in the future Reuben said: “I think cars will be long-gone and everyone will be travelling around in hover boats. It will be really cool!”

Meanwhile Jessica said: “I was really excited to go to the site– I’ve never been on a development site before. I found the tour really interesting, especially seeing all the big equipment and I even picked a bedroom for Mrs Kennett!”

Nathan concluded: “The tour was really useful and has given me lots of ideas for the artwork – I’m thinking of doing a comparison on how construction works will change in 60 years. I’m thinking even bigger machines!”

Jean said the youngsters were thrilled about the prospect of creating artwork for the future generation. “I think it’s really important to include children in the local community and they are really excited about the idea of the time capsule – 60 years is a long time for the students to comprehend,” she added.

The care home is being built by specialist care home developer Castleoak on behalf of Sanctuary Group. When complete it will be run by Sanctuary Care and will provide residential, nursing and dementia care. It will include 60 spacious en-suite bedrooms, many of which will include their own French doors opening onto a paved patio area, as well as airy lounges and dining rooms.

Gill, who is looking forward to managing the home for Sanctuary Care said: “It was a great pleasure to be welcomed to the site at such an early stage, along with the children from the local school – the idea of involving the next generation is a fantastic idea and I was proud to be a part of it.”

Alun Williams, construction manager from Castleoak, concluded: “We are always looking for unique ways to support our client’s engagement with the local communities and working with Sanctuary is no exception. The idea of involving local school children in Hersden’s future history is a fantastic idea and we are proud we were able to support in facilitating.”