Children bury treasures at new Royal Navy accommodation site in Portsmouth
Children have buried their belongings for future generations to find within the ground works around the new accommodation for personnel at HM Naval Base Portsmouth.
Schoolchildren from Solent Infant School, Mayfield School and Bayhouse School & Sixth Form placed items in a time capsule to be buried at the site of the new Falklands Building with help from the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth Councillor Lynne Stagg.
The primary and secondary school pupils donated a variety of items including toys, cards, coins, photographs and school jumpers to put in the capsule.
The new accommodation is being built as part of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation’s (DIO) Project SLAM, an extensive upgrade of bed spaces, common areas and ancillary facilities for Service personnel. It will provide 240 bedspaces for junior ranks in six-person dormitory style accommodation, as well as 30 en-suite rooms, shared kitchen and common room facilities together with a car park
Project SLAM’s Prime Contractor, Debut Services is a joint venture between Lend Lease and Babcock Infrastructure and has so far delivered in excess of 20,000 bed spaces for the Armed Forces throughout theUK.
DIO Project Manager Howard Sims said:
“This provided a great opportunity to get some of the local school children involved in the SLAM project and provided them with an interesting and informative day out on our site. The whole team found the children’s efforts to ensure the time capsules contents were unique yet informative for future generations very heartening.”
Commodore Jeremy Rigby, the Naval Base Commander, said:
“About 75 years ago, there were air raid shelters beneath where we are standing and messages had been carved on walls which now provide us with a snapshot of history.
“So when this capsule is dug up about 75 years from now, these items will provide a similar snapshot of life in 2013. I’m sure whoever uncovers the capsule will find it a fascinating historical resource.”
Azir Ali, Lend Lease’s Project Manager, added:
“It was heartening to see the children place their chosen items in the capsule with such enthusiasm.The event was a great precursor for what’s to come on the site. The Falklands Building will be a fantastic improvement on the accommodation it is replacing – very modern and somewhere the occupants we hope will enjoy living.”
The Falklands Building is due for completion in 2015.
ENDS
Further information:
Press enquiries to Emma Sloper, Communications Officer 0121 311 2418 or email emma.sloper100@mod.uk
Note for Editors
Photo caption – please credit ‘Crown copyright/MOD 2013’:
Lord Mayor of Portsmouth Councillor Lynne Stagg and Commodore Jeremy Rigby – HM Naval Base Commander (both left) join Musician April Burrow - Royal Marines and youngsters from Portsmouth schools for the burial of the time capsule.
1. The Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) plays a vital role in supporting our Armed Forces by building, maintaining and servicing what the men and women who serve our country need to live, work, train and deploy on operations. We are working hard to become even better by becoming a world-class infrastructure delivery organisation over the next few years.
2. DIO is part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). It is responsible for managing and maintaining land and properties, as well as providing related support services, to meet the current and future needs of the MOD and personnel at home and abroad, and to support current operations.
3. Our work includes supporting operational units by providing and improving single living and service family accommodation; training areas and historic military sites. DIO actively manages these to ensure the needs of Defence are met, value for money is achieved, and its heritage is protected, and to achieve its environmental goals.
4. Lend Lease is a leading international property and infrastructure group. In the UK, it is the only fully integrated retail, residential and commercial provider delivering end-to-end property solutions. The company has core capabilities in development, investment management, construction, asset and property management.
5. Lend Lease is behind some of London’s largest and most exciting mixed-use regeneration projects such as Elephant & Castle and The International Quarter. Lend Lease is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and operates in four key regions – Australia, Asia, Americas and EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa).
6. The group has more than 17,000 employees worldwide. Lend Lease is listed on the Dow Jones World Sustainability Index (DJSI) and in 2012 ranked in the top eight per cent of property companies, achieving scores of 90 per cent or higher in a range of categories.
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