Work on a new purpose-built children’s home in Leicester is underway.
The City Mayor, Peter Soulsby and Deputy City Mayor for social care Cllr Sarah Russell, joined Scope Construction Ltd back in August to break ground on Leicester City Council’s first new purpose-built children’s home for several years.
BSP Consulting is the civil and structural engineer for the new two-storey development – Hillview Children’s Home in the west of the city which will provide modern accommodation for six young people aged between eight and 17.
The £1.8 million project, backed by £800,000 from the Department for Education, will provide new living accommodation, communal facilities and ancillary accommodation. It will include five en-suite bedrooms, as well as two self-contained flats, a waking staff office and a staff sleeping room. Additionally, there will be a communal lounge, dining area, kitchen, training room, games room and staff offices, with a garden to the rear for planting vegetables.
Energy efficiency
The building will also feature a range of energy efficiency measures including roof-mounted photo-voltaic panels and air source heat pumps.
Director at BSP Consulting Paul Elphick said: “This project to create a new purpose-built children’s home in Leicester is significant, as it’s the first new development of its kind in the city for several years.
“Engineers at BSP Consulting have been involved in plans for this site for a while and we are very pleased to see that work is now underway.”
Leicester City Council appointed Loughborough-based Scope Construction as its development partner for the project following a competitive tendering exercise. Scope will also be working with Loughborough-based architects A+G and the team in the Leicester office of East Midlands-based civil and structural engineering company BSP Consulting.
Maz Patel, managing director of Scope Construction, said: “We are delighted to have been appointed by Leicester City Council to deliver their first new build children’s home for many years. It is great to be breaking ground on this latest project. Scope and our local supply chain take pride in the work we do and we aim to deliver another first-class project for the client and the local community. We look forward to continuing our strong working relationship with the council.”
As a local SME contractor, Scope works with local supply chains, which means almost all of the council’s spend will have a direct impact on the Leicester and Leicestershire economy. Scope is also committed to supporting the council’s Social Value objectives, in particular, providing opportunities to young people.
The new children’s home, in the west of the city, is being built on council-owned land which has been vacant for around ten years and will also act as a training hub for social care staff, foster carers and other professionals.
Deputy City Mayor for social care, Cllr Sarah Russell, said: “The city council is determined to provide the best possible care for the children and young people we look after. The vast majority of children who can’t live with their birth families live with foster carers, but this isn’t right for everyone, and increasing demand for children’s social care services in recent years means there has been a significant rise in demand for residential children’s homes. This is the case across the country.
“Providing more children’s homes within the city means children and young people can continue to receive support within their communities rather than them moving away from Leicester. This continuity and stability can be very important to children experiencing major disruption to their lives.”
Construction is expected to take around one year to complete, with the new children’s home likely to open in late 2025.
Read how the BBC reported on news of work starting on site https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c990g79gv9mo
Leicester City Council’s press release is here https://news.leicester.gov.uk/news-articles/2024/august/work-begins-on-city-s-new-18m-children-s-home/
