Pictured: (l-r) Cheryl Goode, business manager at Meadows
School, Mick Flanagan, construction manager at Amey, Joanne Shore,
Amey depot manager, Meadows governor Ken Wood, Richard Fryer, Amey
account director, and nine-year-old Rebecca Goode watch on as Caleb
Philpott, ten, tries out the new playground surface
Northfield youngsters who faced being left without a place to
play are smiling again after potholes in their playground were
repaired by Amey employees - including one who had kicked a ball
around on the very same surface almost 45 years previously.
The playground at Meadows Primary School had developed a number
of potholes which meant the surface was not especially conducive to
ball games, while puddles formed after rain took a long time to
drain.
Meadows governor, Ken Wood and the school's business manager
Cheryl Goode decided something needed to be done to repair the
surface before it became too much of a problem - and asked Amey,
who work in partnership with Birmingham City Council to maintain
the roads in the city, if they could assist.
When account director Richard Fryer heard of the plea for help,
he realised it was the same school that had come to his rescue and
looked after him for several weeks in 1967 when he went to stay
with his older sister nearby as both his parents were in hospital.
He was delighted to finally be able to repay the favour and help
today's generation of pupils.
He said: "I have fond memories of my time at Meadows, and so I
was only too happy for our staff to see what they could do for the
school. I hope the pupils will enjoy the playground now and leave
the school with plenty of happy memories too."
A team of employees from Amey, led by construction manager Mick
Flanagan, spent two days at the school patching up the playground,
at no charge to the school, using an infrared repair method which
recycled the asphalt already in place on the ground by heating it
to create a smooth surface.
The team also removed some large imitation pencils which were
dividing the ball games area in two and making it difficult for
full sized games to take place.
Cheryl said: "The state of the playground before meant that it
was difficult to do all of the activities we wanted to - not to
mention the big puddles we would get after rain. But thanks to
Amey, we now have a lovely smooth surface which is much better for
playing ball games. We're really grateful to them for their hard
work - it's made a big difference."
Ken Wood added: "We had no idea of Richard's link to the school
when we asked if Amey could help out - but it was a lovely
coincidence and made it seem even more appropriate to join forces
to repair the surface. We were delighted that they were so willing
to assist us."