Do young people spend enough time in the great outdoors?

Outdoor space is at a premium particularly in urbanised and deprived areas, so children who will learn through engaging activity sadly are deprived of access to areas where they can actively learn about the natural environment.

On Wednesday 18^th February however, the ribbon was cut to formally mark the reopening of the Southmead Adventure Playground. 

The Southmead Councillor and Bristol Assistant Mayor for children, young people and education, Brenda Massey did the honours and expressed her "...praise [for] everyone who worked on this project, and particularly the selfless volunteers who donated their own time to help with the rebuild". 

Landmark Information Group; from which 300 staff volunteered to do the hard-labour, teamed up with Learning Partnership West and Splash Projects to restore the Southmead Adventure Playground for young people in one of Bristol’s most disadvantaged areas.

                                                                         
The Southmead Adventure Playground now boasts a large run-a-round structure, aerial runway and american swing; also an under 8's area with water and sand play, three climbing walls, a rope climb, tyre wall, a beautiful pond and outdoor study area, a new and improved zip wire and much better access to the 2 acre site.

“We hope the structures will stand tall for many years to come, representing all the hard work Landmark, Learning Partnership West and Splash have carried out. It’s been a great joint effort” says Nicola Burcham, LPW Chief Executive.

The children and young people whom attend Southmead Adventure Playground played an important role in the design of the new structure; their views and opinions are at the heart of what Learning Partnership West do every day so it was only fitting that their ideas were then turned into reality. 

The conservationist Steve England will be teaching the Southmead community about the importance of the natural environment, in the new and improved outdoor classroom and newly developed outdoor pond; which for many of these youngsters will be their only opportunity to experience ecology up close.  

Southmead APG has strong community links and young people are encouraged to budget their own money and to sort out any disputes they may have through talking. Learning Partnership West will hopefully continue this work for many years to come. 

The Splash team was brilliant and worked so hard to get the structures finished. Children now have access to the main building, housing a soft play room for under 8's, a craft room where activities such as t/shirt printing and dyeing, clay work, kite making, marbling, amongst other craft activities take place.

The main building is all on one level so no steps are involved, it has disabled access and toilets. A ramp leads into the main room with dividing doors into the soft play/craft areas, also the shower toilet block.

Staff at Southmead Adventure Playground would like to thank everyone who helped make this possible. 

"It is an honour to cut the ribbon of the new Southmead Adventure Playground which I’m sure will be enjoyed by children and young people from the local community for years to come”, says Brenda Massey

“When we heard about the opportunity to help two local communities in Bristol provide a safe and modern play and learning environment for their children, we knew this was challenge all Landmarkers would value and rise to”, says Mark Milner, CEO Landmark Information Group.

Here is the full video of the teams in action:

2D or not 2D? That is the question for estate agents as Metropix celebrates ten years of floor plan success

It is ten years since Metropix introduced its floor plan software to the residential property market. Founded by former estate agent, Brian Farrell, Metropix enables agents to draw out 2D floor plans, giving prospective tenants and buyers an instant visualisation of the size and layout of a property. Estate and lettings agents have created more than 6.7 million Metropix floor plans in the past decade.

“In 2005 floorplans were a novelty, today more consumers demand to see a floor plan included in property details,” reports Metropix Managing Director, Brian Farrell. 

The Metropix PLANBANK® contains a wealth of ready-made floor plans, including unusually-shaped layouts, giving an insight into the wide variety of properties that have been drawn using the software. The smallest Metropix floorplan, created for a property in London, measured just 188 square feet, or 4.78m x 3.66m. That’s a living space the equivalent size of 24 shopping trolleys. The largest Metropix floorplan, created for a property in Auckland, measured an impressive 31,415 square feet: large enough to accommodate two Olympic swimming pools and still have space for furniture.

The number of letting and estate agents using Metropix floor planning software to help with marketing properties continues to rise. Some of the first to use the service include corporate clients, such as Romans, and independent agents, Slades Estate Agents, based on the South coast, both have used Metropix since day one.

The very first Metropix customer was Berkshire-based agent, Atkinson Keene, acquired by Romans in 2012. Peter Fuller, FARLA, Letting Managing Director at Romans, explains his reasons for continuing to use the software today, “We produce between thirty and fifty floor plans per week, via Metropix. Many of our competitors don’t include floor plans as standard and this makes us stand out from the crowd. We regularly hear from prospective tenants that they have been frustrated at not having access to a floor plan. We find that if a property is being marketed online across multiple agency listings and we’re the only agent who offers a floor plan, it gives us a distinct advantage. Including floor plans helps to improve our click through rates,” asserts Peter Fuller.

In a recent survey by property portal RightMove, over half of 10,000 consumer respondents stated that they would not instruct agents that didn't include floor plans as part of their properties marketing. The research also highlighted that one in five consumers would ignore property adverts that didn't have a floor plan.

 

Brian Farrell adds: “We would like to thank all our customers for contributing to Metropix’ continued success. Back in the early days, the market for computer-generated floor plans was agents who were looking to offer better marketing to their clients. Nowadays, we are seeing increasing consumer demand for floor plans on agents' websites, because it helps them to assess a property’s suitability. More agents are realising they are at a competitive disadvantage if they don't provide a floor plan to prospective buyers and tenants.” 

Throughout 2015, Metropix will be sharing fun facts and competitions; join in at: www.metropixten.co.uk or on social media, using hashtag #metropixisten. 

More information on Metropix can be found at http://www.metropix.co.uk