Glodwick Primary Care Centre
The £6m Glodwick Primary Care Centre development supports the delivery of improved health services to the people of Glodwick and serves around 15,000 patients in the local community.
The brand new building on Glodwick Road opened in April 2007 and is home to three GP practices, dental surgeries, a pharmacy, children’s services, an orthoptics clinic, podiatry, older people’s services, sexual health, counselling and other services. In addition the facility provides a local service for orthoptics and community nursing as well as mental health services. It is a local one stop facility for patients.
Oldham Primary Care Trust and Community 1st Oldham, where Equity Solutions is the private sector LIFT partner, appointed the Groundwork Trust to carry out a series of consultations with local schools to develop and deliver the following projects; a time capsule, landscaping of the light wells included in the new building: a sculpture / art project.
Time Capsule Project
This project involved working with three local schools: Glodwick Infant, Roundthorn Community Primary and Alexandra Park Primary.
The project involved workshops around ‘What is a time capsule?’ ‘Who are we saving the items for?’ and ‘What do we want to tell them?’ The time capsule focused on the theme of healthy living in 2007 and associated national curriculum activities.
The children were asked to think about the different ethnic dimensions to health and the diversity of the community in which they live; focussing on diet and recipes and how to keep themselves and others healthy and sports and exercise. They provided a snapshot of what life was like in Glodwick in 2007.
Internal Courtyard Landscaping Project
This project involved two primary schools, Horton Mill and Greenhill developing locally sensitive and low maintenance sustainable designs for two of the courtyard spaces.
Groundwork landscape architects worked with the schools. The pupils explored the themes of healthy mind and body and how the environment might impact on these, for example through colours, choice of materials and structure and how they could make a difference.
The pupils were then involved in a session choosing suitable plants to go into the courtyard planters, with the children having to think about specific types of plants that would survive and that wouldn’t require much upkeep, but which also had a visual impact all year round. Finally, a session was organised whereby the pupils came along to plant their chosen foliage, getting their hands mucky whilst helping the Groundwork team plant out the courtyards.
Art Project
This project involved working with Breezehill School and a local artist, Ailsa Magnus. The brief was to develop a locally sensitive, sustainable art project in one of the courtyard spaces with the theme focussing on natural global healing properties.
The pupils were involved in researching and developing, with the artist, the “Tree of Life in the Healing Wood”. This comprises of 36 wooden trees engraved with soothing words associated with healing properties found in nature.
All three projects were a great success.
