MORGAN SINDALL REDUCES WASTE BEING SENT TO UK LANDFILLS

WASTE being sent to landfill is set to be reduced by construction company Morgan Sindall by turning disused plastic hard hats into site hoardings.

The company, which has local offices at Enterprise Way, Liverpool, has sent more than 4,000 old hats to a manufacturer to be moulded into the environmentally-friendly boards which will be used as site hoardings.

Morgan Sindall’s decision to re-use the old hats comes after the business re-branded earlier this year following a merger of its sister design and infrastructure businesses.

The formation of the new business meant that the old branded hard hats with the former company logos on needed to be replaced. Rather than disposing of the old hats, the company joined forces with innovative plastic recycler 2K Manufacturing to turn the hats into EcoSheet boards.

“In the past, it has been standard practice in the construction industry to send hard hats to landfill when they need to be replaced. As a company, we make every effort to limit the amount of waste we send to landfill and try to reuse materials and old equipment wherever possible, so when our old branded hard hats had to be removed from service, we wanted to find a way of using them again.” explains Brian Handcock, Morgan Sindall head of sustainability and environment.

Morgan Sindall collected up hard hats from offices and construction sites all over the UK and transported them to 2K Manufacturing’s headquarters in Luton where they were moulded into EcoSheet boards.

“EcoSheet is an excellent piece of technology for the construction industry because it removes the need for using plywood boards on site which cannot be recycled. We’ve been really impressed with the results and are already using EcoSheet boards on a number of our construction projects.” says Brian.

“The groundbreaking technology we use to produce our award-winning EcoSheet boards is enabling us to bring a new lease of life to some of the four million hard hats that are produced each year in this country alone. We enjoy working closely with construction companies like Morgan Sindall to help reduce the amount of waste they commit to landfill by providing sustainable solutions which benefit them both commercially and environmentally.” says Peter Ball, 2K Manufacturing’s head of sales.

Last chance to attend event of the season!

FOLLOWING a very successful press launch at the magnificent Hillbark Hotel, this year’s Red Cross Ball will be celebrated on 20 November 2010, at the elegant Marquee at Hillbark Hotel in, Frankby, Wirral. Attended by guests from across the UK and Europe, the 2010 Red Cross Ball will be even bigger and better than before!

This year’s Red Cross Ball will commence with a dramatic opening with a glittering entertainment programme planned together with a beautiful menu especially created for this year’s Red Cross Ball at Hillbark Hotel whose fine dining chef from Merseyside is Aiden Byrne. The Masterchef star, who was the youngest chef to win a Michelin star, says he’s coming home with the new restaurant, which opened to the public in August.

Aiden, who made his name as head chef at the Dorchester, has launched a high end fine dining menu at the historic hotel in Frankby and is offering a fantastic auction prize for the Red Cross Ball.

“We had guests from all over England and Europe attending the Red Cross Ball during 2008 and 2009 and we were all overwhelmed with the success this event raising over £50,000. This years Red Cross Ball will be a really spectacular event, and we are so pleased to have many local partners who are supporting this years Red Cross Ball. I would like to give thanks to the following for their continued support and for sponsoring this years event at the Hillbark Hotel, Ina Schmidt and Diamond Events, Opulence Bridal Wear in West Kirby, View Magazine, The Milners, Hallmark Jewellers, Khrua Thai, Merilyn Phillips and to all local businesses who have contributed to helping the Red Cross Ball raise much needed funds to help vulnerable people across the world and around the corner. Tables sell out fast for the Red Cross Ball and we now have only 2 tables left! Being on 20 November 2010, it is a great opportunity to attend the Ball as part of office or work Christmas celebrations or to treat the family to a great evening along with the knowledge that your support has helped change lives and save lives. This year we are also pleased to have Jean Boht (aka Nellie Boswell form the hit 80’s TV series Bread) and Carl Davies, famous composer and conductor attend plus Craig Phillips of reality TV show Big Brother and 60 Minute Makeover, and Dean Sullivan star of City Talk and Brookside coming to show their support.” said Alexis Fairclough Senior Fundraiser for the British Red Cross.

Tables seating ten guests are £650 at the 2010 Red Cross Ball, which includes a welcome special cocktail on arrival, goody bags and presents for all guests attending courtesy of ESPA whose luxury products are found in the finest spas around the world, beautiful three course dinner with coffee, a chance to win a real diamond courtesy of Hallmark Jewellers, plus an auction and hundreds of raffle prizes plus entertainment all night. You can reserve your table to this fabulous event by calling Alexis NOW on:- 07921 872441, you can also email or go online.

The money raised from the Red Cross Ball will go a long way to provide British Red Cross services to both the local community and will help provide disaster relief overseas.

Be Part of the UK’s Biggest Ever Online Maths Challenge!

THE Four Nations Maths Challenge is hosted by the team behind World Maths Day, the world’s largest online global mathematics learning site, designed to help students improve their maths.  The Four Nations Maths Challenge is powered by 3P Learning’s award winning learning platform Mathletics. Students from England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales will go head to head to answer as many maths-related questions as they can. The competition is fundamentally about changing the way students perceive maths by putting it into an arena previously reserved for sport. Who will be the winning nation, school and student?   The Four Nations maths challenge is FREE for schools to enter.  The challenge commences at 9am on Monday, 8 November 2010, and runs for 5 days until 3pm on Friday, 12 November 2010.  Schools can preregister for the event by visiting:- fournationsmathschallenge.co.uk, registrations open on Monday, 18 October 2010.   Jayne Warburton, CEO of 3P Learning UK says:- “We are looking forward to a really exciting event and want as many schools in the UK to join in and unite in numbers! Which of the four nations, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales will take 1st place? Scotland did very well in World Maths Day 2010, can they repeat their success in the Four Nations Maths Challenge? During the competition students will be adding, subtracting, dividing, problem solving and doing a lot of maths! Students can choose to answer questions from a large bank of curriculum based questions (all aligned to the UK curriculum), or go head to head to answer as many mental arithmetic questions as possible in live 60 second challenges. The challenge is open to all school aged students in the UK. The Four Nations Maths students can practise for the challenge during the week leading up to the event. Individual as well as school prizes are awarded at the end of the competition. Additionally, the top student from each country will be selected as a World Maths Day Ambassador which is a very prestigious role.”   The Four Nations Maths Challenge encourages students of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to have a go at maths in a fun, interactive and accessible way. Best of all participation in the Four Nations Maths Challenge is free, all you need is internet access. For more information go to the challenge website