Kier veterans team joins forces with DIY SOS

A TEAM of ex-service personnel and serving reservists now working for construction giant Kier has joined the BBC DIY SOS team converting the final empty house in Canada Street in Manchester’s Newton Heath district.

They are turning it into a family house for veteran Lance Corporal Simon Flores and his children.

Dave Bailey, Chris Davis, Dan Hampson, Luke Mazzoni and Tony Washer from Kier, all ex-forces or reservists and whose skills include joinery, bricklaying and painting and decorating, are joining the DIY SOS team to rebuild the empty house for Simon and his family, marking the 18th veteran family to be housed in the street and creating a complete veterans’ village in the area.
 
The original project, which Kier volunteered to project manage and lead the delivery of, included renovating eight dilapidated empty houses to provide new family homes, an advice and therapy centre and single accommodation for veterans.

The advice and therapy centre is a walking with the wounded hub based on Canada Street giving veterans and residents access to support, education and training.

More than nine million viewers watched the project, which also delivered a ‘facelift’ to all 62 properties in Canada Street and adjacent New Street, as well as streetscaping to provide an improved, more resident-friendly neighbourhood that everyone – veterans and the local community alike – can feel proud to live in.

Challenges included clearing asbestos in the mortar and inducting around 2,000 volunteers over the two-week period with 250 tradespeople on site daily.

Highlights for Kier included inducting Princes William and Harry for their site visit, as well as welcoming a wide range of other visitors including the Director General of the BBC and Manchester’s Lord Mayor.

Since April this year, Kier has been on-site working with Haig Housing, housing provider for ex-service men and women, renovating 15 properties to create a Veterans’ Village, integrating 13 veteran families into the existing community. Some properties had open roofs, and in most cases were in need of structural restoration, complete rewiring and new central heating.
 
Dave Bailey, SHE advisor, Kier and Army reservist, said: “I’m so proud to be part of this project. As a former Royal Engineer and current Army Reservist, I know how important it is to have support around you, and I’m pleased that my work with Kier has given me the opportunity to help the veterans on Canada Street.”

David Mawson, managing director, Kier Housing Maintenance added: “We’re pleased to return to Canada Street with DIY SOS one last time, and we’re thrilled that some of our employees with close connections to the Armed Forces have been able to join us to give something back to the veteran community.

“Having been heavily involved in restoring the area, it’s wonderful to see the street transformed, with what were once dilapidated, empty buildings turned into family homes.

“The original DIY SOS project and our subsequent work with Haig Housing has really demonstrated the fantastic things that we can do for veterans and the existing community alike, and this final home achieves what we all hoped – a legacy of regeneration.”

Kier has a strong presence in Manchester. It employs more than 200 people in Manchester and is creating one of the biggest financial shared service centres in the North West in the city.

Kier Property recently purchased the 11 York Street office redevelopment, and Kier Construction was recently awarded a place on Lot 4 of the University of Manchester framework. In Bolton, Kier is on site delivering the new £24.9m interchange for Transport for Greater Manchester.