BSP Consulting

Community support

BSP was pleased to provide pro-bono structural services for the design and construction of a new community kitchen for the Perth-based charity Giraffe.

Paul Hammersley said: “When I heard that Giraffe were looking for a structural engineer to assist them in developing their new community kitchen, I was pleased to offer my services through BSP. Giraffe are an amazing charity. They equip over 100 young people a year with barriers to learning with vocational skills. In so doing, the trainees in the last year have helped produce over 26,000 community meals and use, where ever possible, quality surplus food that would usually end up in landfill. It’s a win for the young people, a win for the community and a win for the environment!”

Gareth Ruddock, CEO of Giraffe, said: “The last year has been incredibly exciting getting the new kitchen built, but incredibly challenging too as construction costs have spiralled and put real pressures on the budget. We appreciate the support that BSP has provided and their expertise in providing value engineering advice that ultimately helped the project go ahead. We’re looking forward to the community kitchen opening very shortly which will enable us to increase the number of trainees that we can accommodate each year and increase our benefit to the community and environment. We are a charity and rely on funding from external sources. The support BSP has given has been very much appreciated.”

 Heartburn Cancer UK fundraiser

A live music gig staged in memory of BSP senior structural engineer Andy Middleham, who died in January 2022, raised more than £3,300 for Heartburn Cancer UK.

The Andy Middleham Tribute gig held at The Boat Club in Nottingham, featured the bands Splinter Cell, Embrace the Awkward and Loach, and remembered Andy who sadly passed away as a result of oesophageal cancer.

His wife Abi, who is keen to continue raising awareness of this type of cancer, said: “Andy’s passion was music; he loved nothing more than going to see bands with his friends. The gig was organised by friends and was a perfect tribute to Andy. Everyone in the room enjoying a lot of loud music and having a wonderful time, whilst raising an amazing amount of money to help raise awareness.”

The story of Andy, who died five days before his 47^th birthday, has been featured on the Heartburn Cancer UK website here.

Andy was a popular member of the BSP Structures Team, having first joined the company in January 2005, and is greatly missed. A number of Andy’s friends from BSP attended the tribute gig. MD Carl Hilton commented: “We had a fabulous night remembering Andy and raising money for the Heartburn Cancer Charity. It was a night so in keeping with Andy’s love of live music, friendship and fun.”

Our thoughts remain with Andy’s wife Abi and his children Siobhan and Blake.

Student mock interviews

BSP is a keen supporter of young people.

Director Paul Elphick visited Rushey Mead Academy in Leicester to help with some student mock interviews organised by Leicestershire Cares in support of the next generation.

He was impressed with the youngsters and said: “They were lovely kids. I was really quite taken aback of how focused and engaged they were. All so polite and thankful. It was an absolute pleasure to help them.”

BSP director Clive Roddick also took part in mock interviews recently, helping out at Allestree Woodlands School in Derby as part of a session organised by Enterprise for Education (E4E), a Derby-based initiative which links employers with schools and students to raise aspirations, create a better understanding about career opportunities and improve employability skills amongst our young people.

Food bank collections

Thanks to all the members of staff in our Nottingham and Leicester offices who donated to our pre-Christmas food bank appeal. What an amazing spread we were able to hand over, as a result of your generosity.