The Orchard Special School in Nottinghamshire was one of the first to be hit by the Coalition Government’s decision to pull the plug on the Building Schools for the Future programme.
The site, which houses 90 pupils across Key Stages 1 – 5 & Foundation class with ages between 3 and 19, had been earmarked for a complete re-build under the scheme after the roof developed major deterioration.
The membrane to the CLASP building’s roof had suffered serious degradation over the years, and as the membrane was past its useful working life, water ingress to the school building had become a regular problem.
The situation was so serious that when it rained, pupils had to abandon lessons temporarily to catch the dripping rainwater in buckets.
When East Midlands building contractor ARG (Mansfield) Ltd heard how their former client had become one of the first casualties of the BSF cuts, they rose to the challenge.
MD Allan Gregory saw the school featured on local and national news programmes and contacted liquid membrane roofing suppliers Belzona Polymerics Ltd in Harrogate. ARG is a trained, licensed and authorised installer of Belzona Polymeric products across a number of applications.
Said Allan: “I said if Belzona would provide the materials for the liquid membrane roofing system repairs free of charge, we would in turn install it for free. Their national sales manager Gordon Cairns readily agreed.”
After conducting a roof survey, ARG spent two days cleaning off, preparing and applying patch repairs to the leaking locations.
Repairs were undertaken without the use of naked flame or fumes, minimising the risk of health and safety problems. More than a dozen patch roof repairs were successfully completed, using Belzona’s 3111 Flexible Membrane polymeric system. The entire installation project was completed in just two days.
Head teacher Margot Tyers said: “The old roof was definitely past its sell-by date. When we replaced a floor last year we had to close one of the classrooms because it flooded. Damp rooms and leaking roofs are something our pupils shouldn’t have to put up with and we’re thrilled that ARG and Belzona stepped in to help us improve things ready for the children returning to school for the new term. We can’t thank them enough for their generosity. We‘ve now got a sound roof and it hasn’t cost us a penny, thanks to the generosity of these two firms. “
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