Human

A bumper harvest of interest in Houlton’s first crop of allotments

October saw Houlton, Rugby deliver 39 brand new allotments to some lucky green fingered residents.

It's all about the quality of life

Our journey to ensure our new communities support and drive health and wellbeing can be traced back to early engagement with Sport England on Active Design principles for Alconbury Weald and Houlton; and developed as NHS England reviewed the learnings from Healthy New Town pilots, which we were hungry to draw into future design and activation for our new communities. 

Catesby’s Commitment to Education

Working with the next generation of farmers, landowners and land agents the Catesby team has developed strong links with Harper Adams University and The Royal Agricultural University (RAU), hosting presentations and Q&A sessions with students studying Land and Property Management and Real Estate and Rural Land Management respectively.  

Local community discovers Wintringham’s past

Urban&Civic teamed up with Oxford Archaeology East and St Neots Museum to help residents and local communities discover what life would have been like for our ancient ancestors living in the area during the Iron Age and early Roman period.

Alconbury Weald residents embrace new activities

Alconbury Weald has been designed with health and wellbeing at its core. It is also part of the Living Sport’s Active New Communities initiative, which encourages people to make positive choices and take up sports and activities as they settle into their new home.

Empowering our people to cut greenhouse gas emissions

As part of our ongoing commitment to educating on carbon, we have engaged Groundwork to deliver carbon literacy training to our colleagues and have an ambition to provide this accredited learning to at least 80 per cent of our employees by June 2022.
 

Walking groups

Urban & Civic in partnership with Sustrans have been organising weekly led walks through Middlebeck, Newark with the aim of encouraging an active lifestyle. Our Community Engagement Officer wanted the walks to be a fun and sociable activity for people who want reap the benefits of exercise. 

Community Use Agreement

Our approach specified that five years on from the opening of the school, the mix of use would be one third reserved for the Houlton Community, one third reserved for external organisations to provide activity to the Houlton Community, with the final third is for commercial organisations outside of Houlton who may wish to use the space.

Inspirational play spaces encourage children to explore

Alconbury Weald has a fantastic array of play areas, inspired by the site’s heritage and natural environment, and designed to encourage children to explore, be active and let their imagination run wild.

Putting care at the district heart of the community

Priors Hall Park is the first of our sites to open a luxury 66 bed care home, located next to the district centre with views overlooking the amphitheatre and gulley wildlife site.

Youth Games return to the Amphitheatre

In July, around 150 people flocked to the development’s amphitheatre to enjoy a range of fun-filled activities for young people, provided by local partners.

Gulley opening unlocks nature trail for residents

Priors Hall Park’s residents have a new way to stay healthy and appreciate the wildlife on their doorstep as ‘The Gulley’, its 25 acre nature reserve and county wildlife site has been completed and is now open to walk through.

Green skills remain a part of the landscape at Wintringham

Volunteers taking part in Groundwork’s latest Green Team project spent four weeks building, installing and planting pots and planters along Pelham Road and outside the new Urban&Civic office.

A motivational support for the Newark Half Marathon

Middlebeck sponsored the Newark Half Marathon for a third year in 2022 (with a short break during the pandemic, where the event was paused).

Calling all cycling smoothies

The long awaited launch of the Middlebeck cycle hub was a huge success in July, with local residents attending from across Newark to get their bike serviced and to participate in the celebrations.

Volunteer Day

Community volunteering goes wild in Newark with the conclusion of U&C's first volunteering month.

Getting to know your neighbours, past and present, by supporting the Farmland Museum

Urban&Civic’s Waterbeach team recently helped support the Farmland Museum’s exhibition which was on display within Denny Abbey, just north of the Waterbeach development, which formed part of their Autumn programme to bring visitors into the important heritage attraction.

What a way to Make your Mark

Waterbeach hosted its first Make Your Mark event in October which was designed to promote the wide range of careers and opportunities available for women in the development, property and built environment industries and to inspire them to follow a career in these fields.

Community and heritage at the heart of a new place

The strong community and heritage focus at Waterbeach continued in July with the Waterbeach Feast and the reunion of 514 Squadron at the former Barracks and Airfield.

Urban&Civic and Catesby come together in a new office at Houlton

2022 saw the relocation of the Houlton Project Team and the Head Office of Catesby Estates, to the newly constructed Orchard House, an office space in the heart of Dollman Farm, close to the The Tuning Fork and directly above Houlton’s Co-Op.

Hands on help for our communities

U&C’s first corporate volunteering month saw over 50 employees getting out into our communities, supporting local projects and learning new skills whilst also giving employees the chance to work with team members from across our sites and business functions.

An Away Day in In-tents conditions

The 2022 Employee Away Day was the first two day full team event since 2019.