Chelsea Court

Welcome to our site works update for June

Since our previous update

The site team is delighted to announce that the progress of works to the 5th to 2nd floors of the West Wing is currently 99% completed.

An emergency exit has been implemented through the compound/garden area. This can be access through the ground floor fire exit, through the fire escape stairwell.

There will be a fire exit door that will lead you to the garden area, where you'll be able to exit the premises. Please note that you will still be able to exit normally through the central core, and this exit is for emergencies only.

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Welcome to our site works update for May

Since our previous update

To further promote fire safety, the site has successfully implemented automatic windows. These have been installed at the end of each corridor of the floors.

The automatic windows are set to automatically open in the event of a fire, the smoke detectors fitted into the system will send a message to the fire alarm panel to open the window, when a level of smoke is detected.

As previously stated in our last newsletter, works to the Bell Tower refurbishment has resumed. We expect to complete these works by early July 2022.

Site team update:

As previously mentioned, the new Site Manager Sergiu has replaced the scheme's previous Site Manager, Daniel Barbu. Sergiu started working at Chelsea Court in late April and has quickly adjusted to his responsibilities, site and site team. If you need to speak to Sergiu please contact him on 07977 165 330.

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Fire kills - but YOU can prevent it!

To assist you in keeping yourself, your home and others safe from fire, we have sourced a number of guidance documents to help understand the risks and what you can do to prevent them.

DID YOU KNOW? A working smoke alarm could save you in a fire - 35 people die each year because their smoke alarm is not working!

Test your smoke alarms every month and change your battery every year or when necessary.

• Check your smoke alarms are safe
• Check your smoke alarms work
• Put your smoke alarms in the right place

DID YOU KNOW? Every 6 days someone dies in a home fire started by a cigarette!

Make sure fires do not start:

• Keep children out of the kitchen when you are cooking
• Stay in the kitchen if you are cooking with fat - fat can set on fire easily
• Use plugs safely - too many in one socket can start a fire
• Check for broken plugs and wires
• Put out cigarettes when finished
• Put candles in a holder and keep them away from things that may burn

DID YOU KNOW? Faulty electrics cause about 6,000 fires in the home each year!

Think about how to get out safely, make a plan to get out fast. Phone 999 for the fire and rescue service. If your clothes are on fire - stop, drop and roll!

For more information about preventing a fire in your home and how to make your home safe, please view the Make your home safe guidance document saved here.

You can also view our guidance documents for fire safety When Celebrating, In the Winter and Outdoors.

In the event of a fire, get out, stay out and call 999.

Staff that run the Chelsea Physic Garden are looking for Friends to help support them.

Sitting on the Thames embankment, and sheltered by high walls, the Chelsea Physic Garden is one of the oldest and most respected botanic gardens in Europe. Founded in 1673 by The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London for its apprentices to study medicinal plants and their uses, it became one of the most important centres of botany and plant exchange in the world. Chelsea Physic Garden's plant collection is unique in being the only botanic garden collection focused on medicinal, herbal and useful plants.

Today, as an independent charity, they reply on visitors, friends and supporters to help protect and nurture the Garden for future generations.

As mentioned in our latest resident newsletter, residents of Chelsea Court can apply for a pass to access the garden. If you would like to receive one, please contact Allayna on 07990 980 672 or Daniel on 07500 998 881.

For more information about the Chelsea Physic Garden or how to become a Friend of the garden, please visit: https://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/

The Chelsea Court site team received an impressive score of 45/45 for their latest audit visit by the Considerate Constructors Scheme (CCS) after scoring top marks in each of the three categories.

On 30^th March, a CCS monitor visited Chelsea Court and carried out his audit of the site, commenting things like “There is extensive liaison with both the client’s representative on the site and residents; an RLO is in post and the provision of a site specific microsite is commendable.” and “Emphasis is placed on elderly residents and the site strive to ensure that there is minimal disruption whilst the works are in progress.”

The CCS is an independent organisation founded to raise standards in the construction industry to ensure all construction sites present an image of competent management, efficiency, awareness of environmental issues and above all neighbourliness. Monitors from the scheme regularly audit our sites to ensure we are adhering to the scheme’s Code of Considerate Practice which is designed to encourage best practice beyond statutory requirement.

Each audit is split into three categories; respect for the community, protecting the environment and valuing the workforce each with a potential score out of 15 with a total combined max score of 45 available. To score above 13 in any category warrants an excellent level of achievement for that category.

Congratulations to Stephen, Daniel, Adie, Allayna and the rest of the site team, who work so hard every day to maintain such high standards

Welcome to our site works update for February

Since our last update:

• We are finalising the refurbishment works to West Wing properties (5th floor to 1st floor) and currently working through Occupational Therapy adaptations required to your new bathrooms
• We have finished the refurbishment works in the West Wing emergency stairwell and are currently installing a new one
• We are currently testing and commissioning newly installed Life Safety Equipment, whilst also awaiting Fire Safety Certification for all the refurbishment works carried out to West Wing properties
• We are aiming to complete the works to West Wing properties and organise viewings for residents in March to see the refurbished homes before moves in April

Pre-visit viewing of your property

During March, we will be organising a viewing to the newly refurbished properties in the West Wing, with each individual resident moving back to the West Wing. We will offer a 30 min visit for residents wishing to see their properties before moving back. This will be your chance to see what furniture will fit and to take measurements.

Phase 2 East Wing External Works

The new phase 2 East Wing bell tower - As you are aware we have been instructed to fully refurbish the East Wing bell tower as the timber condition of the old bell tower was at the end of it's lifetime.

We have postponed the installation works of the new tower for a week as a precaution to the high winds weather forecast. Structure timber works are planned to start week commencing 28th February. Weather permitting, we anticipate the replacement of the bell tower works to be completed before the end of March 2022.

Saturday working in the West Wing

As you are aware, we are working on Saturday 26th February and Saturday 5th March, between 8am-2pm. We will not need to access any of the communal parts of the building, or any resident occupied areas. No noisy works will be undertaken during this time as well.

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We are pleased to inform you that the recent high winds have had a minimal effect on the progress of our works and there has been no significant damage to the structure of the scaffolding, except for a few areas where the wind ripped our blue netting, however this has now been replaced.

Welcome to our site works update for December

Since our last update, we have completed the refurbishment works in west wing properties (1st - 5th floor) and are currently working through occupational therapy adaptations required to your new bathrooms.

We are currently working our way through the ground floor refurbishment works and completing the remaining tests to the newly installed Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery (MVHR) system, new fire alarm system, new sprinkler system and new digital entry system.

We have also finished the refurbishment works to the west wing emergency stairwell and are currently installing new signage as instructed by Peabody.

In the new year we will be starting the demolition of the old entrance bridge and creating a new entrance extension.

In January and February 2022, we will complete all associated fire certification for the newly refurbished west wing properties and plan the decant/recant process of all residents, to enable us to continue the works in the east wing as part of our Phase 2 works once all properties have been safely vacated.

Festive holidays

In lieu of the usual festive event we would usually host, we included some festive fun pages within our December newsletter with a chance of winning a fantastic Christmas hamper. The prize will be award to the winning resident on 23rd December.

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The ENGIE team would like to thank you for your continued patience and understanding during our construction works on this scheme.

We will be closing the site over the festive period from Thursday 23rd December, re-opening on Tuesday 4th January 2022.

Our emergency contact during this period is: 0800 328 7244.

If you see any unauthorised people trying to access our site during this period, please call the police immediately.

Pictured left to right: Senior Site Manager, Daniel Barbu, Apprentice Allayna Leon-Clovis and Assistant Site Manager, Timur Yusuf

22 year old Allayna Leon-Clovis, joined the Chelsea Court site team early last month to start her Apprenticeship with ENGIE. Allayna is also a local resident living in the borough.

Since starting her Business Administration apprenticeship, Allayna has been assisting the site team including Senior Site Manager, Daniel Barbu and Assistant Site Manager, Timur Yusuf, with their daily activities.

We caught up with Allayna recently to ask her some questions about how her apprenticeship is going:

Q: What was you doing previously and what's your reason for taking on this apprenticeship?

I previously worked part-time in retail. I didn't want to continue working in retail and wanted to finally utilise the IT skills that I did have to go into an administration job, but I didn't know where to start. When I came to the interview, I was both nervous and excited, but the more I spoke to Suzanne (Trainee, Apprentice and Graduate Development Officer) and Daniel (Senior Site Manager) the more comfortable I became.

Q: What have you been doing during your apprenticeship so far?

Mostly online training - I've also completed most of my assignments during the first few weeks of my apprenticeship. Whilst on site I was learning the different applications and websites that are used to communicate and design plans. I've also done filing, printing and scanning as well as working on some tasks using Microsoft Excel and Word.

Apprentice Allayna at her desk in the site office

Q: What do you plan to gain from your apprenticeship and are you on course to achieve this?

I plan to expand my knowledge since I've mostly worked in retail and health & social care settings. I have experience of working with others and interacting with people of all ages, but this apprenticeship allows me to learn the business side of the workplace and utilise the skills I already have. I also plan to expand on the skills I already have.

Thanks to help from the Site Managers and Suzanne, anything I've been confused about has quickly been answered, meaning I should be on course to achieve my apprenticeship goal. Whilst telling me about their experience of working with ENGIE, Suzanne and the site team have also offered me various opportunities for learning off-site.

Q: Is the apprenticeship what you expected?

Yes and no - Coming from a job where I was constantly on a shop floor, I thought this role would be much calmer and have more structure, which it does, but it is much quieter and friendlier than I expected. I was aware that this is a male dominated workplace, but everyone on site has been so kind and welcoming.

Q: What have you enjoyed most about your apprenticeship so far?

I enjoy coming to my workplace and the being in the site environment. I also enjoy doing the small daily tasks - hopefully as time passes it will become second nature.

Q: How do you plan to utilise the skills you've learnt in the future?

There are so many various roles available because of this apprenticeship. If there is a role available at the end of my apprenticeship I would like to take it on full-time as long as it suited my character and skills whilst also allowing me to grow further career-wise.

Q: What has your relationship been like with the other staff and how have you found the day-to-day working environment here at ENGIE?

So far, the guys on site have been very friendly and have told me their experiences of working at ENGIE. They assure me that they understand the feeling of being in a new environment and that it will take time to adjust. They all seem to get long great which is fantastic to see, especially early in the morning.

Allayna with Senior Site Manager, Daniel Barbu

Q: Where to you hope your journey takes you next?

I hope that after the 15 months of being an apprentice I can say that I'm more experienced and have worked in every opportunity ENGIE provides me with. If I'm not working with the same people at the end of my apprenticeship I hope that I'm working in a position that would be of more assistance.

Q: Would you recommend an apprenticeship with ENGIE to anyone else, and if so why?

I constantly tell my friends how my apprenticeship is going and how much fun I'm having, as well as the response for help being extremely fast. While I thought it would be difficult working and studying at the same time, it's just finding that balance. The ENGIE team have made it clear that anytime I just need time to focus on a task to not hesitate to ask since Daniel (Senior Site Manager) also has experience of working as an apprentice.

For those that are hesitant to go into an apprenticeship with ENGIE because they are worried they aren't suited to the role or that they wouldn't do well - as someone that has zero experience in not only administration but also working in construction I'd say go for it. The people you work with closely each day as well as ENGIE's training department are there to help you, but also don't hesitate to reach out to other colleagues as well as other apprentices.

Keep an eye out in our newsletter and our news feed for further updates from Allayna throughout her apprenticeship.

Allayna outside the site office