National Star’s new £6m specialist residential accommodation with learning and activities centre is taking shape at Pittville in Cheltenham.
National Star’s Student Union president Nathan Mattick officially left his mark on the project by hammering in the ‘first’ nail at a special ceremony on site.
For Nathan, a third year student at National Star, it was a special moment. The 19-year-old, who lives in at National Star’s Overton House in Cheltenham, has been closely involved with the student consultation about the new development at Pittville. “This will be so much better than Overton. Pittville will give students independence in a great modern space,” said Nathan. “It will be more accessible and an exciting, vibrant place to live.”
The project will replace the existing, outdated accommodation at Overton House. There will be five buildings on the site in Pittville containing specialist accommodation for 25 young people with disabilities. David Ellis, chief executive of National Star, said: “We are in great need for appropriate accommodation that can support our learners and people with disabilities. Pittville will help us deliver that on an ideal site, close to the town centre.” Gloucestershire-based building contractor Speller Metcalfe is building the five individual accommodation blocks, which will be mainly single-storey. One of the blocks will also be used as a learning and activity space. “Having worked alongside National Star on previous projects, we know first-hand what a fantastic addition this will be not only in terms of the provision of accommodation, but more importantly encouraging and helping young people with disabilities to live independently and become a part of their local community,” said Andy Metcalfe, Joint Managing Director at Speller Metcalfe.
Mr Ellis said: “We’ve been busy raising the funds to make the vision for this project a reality and we were fortunate to also gain the backing of some funding from the Education Funding Agency – but we’ve still some way to go. With Speller Metcalfe now well under way, we hope that the community will continue to give its support to the work and future facilities of National Star.” The project is due to complete in March 2015.
Anyone interested in supporting the project can contact the fundraising team on Tel: 01242 524478 or at: www.nationalstar.org
