World Book Day is a charity event held annually in the United Kingdom and Ireland on the first Thursday in March. On World Book Day, every child in full-time education in the UK is given a voucher to be spent on books; the event was first celebrated in the United Kingdom in 1995.
To celebrate this year’s World Book Day we invited our employees to put forward their favourite book.
Please see below our McGoff Group Book List, can you spot your favourite?
Celestial Geometry: Understanding the Astronomical Meanings by Ken Taylor
Back to the Garden Childcare has appointed a new management team at its recently opened nursery on Statham Avenue in Lymm.
Alison O’Connor-Limb, who lives in Lymm, has been appointed nursery manager whilst Rimini Legge, from Warrington, has been appointed deputy manager.
Alison is responsible for the overall day-to-day running of the nursery, managing the team and providing them with everything they need to teach, learn and care for the children. She is also tasked with maintaining statutory requirements and growing the new nursery as a business.
Ambitious, Alison hopes to enhance the nursery experience, ensuring her team is fully trained in child yoga and other holistic therapies, develop the Forest School and allotment area, introduce a grow to eat space and maintain an inspiring outdoor curriculum.
Supporting Alison is Rimini, who has worked for Back to the Garden Childcare for many years at the Altrincham nursery, starting off as an apprentice for Early Years and progressing to nursery practitioner and unit leader before being promoted to deputy manager in Lymm.
Rimini’s new role will see her assist Alison with managerial duties, as well as being in the individual rooms alongside the nursery practitioners and children to enhance the experience and guide staff in the company’s unique approach to learning.
On joining Back to the Garden, Alison says: “I have always been a huge advocate for being a child’s voice so the Back to the Garden ethos and approach to teaching and learning really appealed to me. It’s unique and refreshing to see in a nursery setting. Since joining, I have loved growing the new nursery space into an holistic centre of children’s learning and look forward to developing this further over the course of the next 12 months.”
Rimini adds: “I have been part of the Back to the Garden team in Altrincham for many years and watched the nursery grow. In Lymm, I hope to help create a safe space and high quality environment for children and our staff to learn. The nursery setting and outdoor space in Lymm in stunning and the children will love our outdoor approach, full of Forest school adventures.
“Having progressed through the company myself, I am also committed to working with the team in Lymm to help them develop their careers further.”
Well qualified, Alison has previously worked in a variety of roles from toddler room supervisor and deputy manager to manager and Early Years Trainer. She has a BA in Primary Education with Early Years specialism, plus vast training in SEN, DSL and safer recruitment, Autism and Makaton.
Through her apprenticeship and working for Back to the Garden, Rimini has achieved NVQ Level 3 in supporting teaching and learning in schools, a Level 3 diploma in children’s learning and development and Level 4 for early years advanced practitioner.
Married with identical 11 month old twin boys, Alison loves making memories with her family, as well as enjoying interiors, gardening and exercising. Away from work, Rimini likes to spend her free time with her partner Connor, as well as family and friends. She loves travelling too, visiting new cities and countries and exploring their cultures.
Back to the Garden Childcare, with nurseries in Lymm and Altrincham, is an innovative child-led day nursery that focuses on active learning through outdoor play in a stunning garden setting. Its philosophy of allowing children to be children to explore their environment, experiment with the outdoor playscape and harness their own imaginations allows for a natural approach where each child develops at their own pace.
For further information, to book an appointment to view the new nursery in Lymm, or for recruitment opportunities, please call Back to the Garden Childcare on 0161 388 2424 or visit www.backtothegardenchildcare.com.
New Care has appointed Helen Hartley to manage its Bramhall Manor Care Centre.
In her new role as registered manager, local lady Helen takes responsibility for the smooth day-to-day running of the highly rated care home on Hardy Drive close to Bramhall village centre.
Working with her team of 80 nurses and care professionals, she will ensure high quality personalised care is provided for all residents, ensuring their individual needs and priorities are met and that they enjoy a wonderful quality of life in a warm and friendly environment with fine dining and a varied programme of daily wellbeing activities.
Delivering services in a safe and effective manner will also be key to Helen’s new role, ensuring Bramhall Manor remains compliant with infection control and prevention procedures and all Care Quality Commission (CQC) guidelines.
Well qualified to take the lead at Bramhall Manor, Helen holds a First Class Honours degree in Adult Nursing. She has worked in healthcare since 2010, firstly as a care support worker for Salford Royal Evening District Nurses and then as a community nurse within the Urgent Response Team progressing to a high level (Band 6).
Having lived in Bramhall for the last 25 years, she watched the development and build of Bramhall Manor with interest, attracted by New Care’s superb reputation within the industry and the high quality and design of the scheme taking shape in her home town.
Feeling that she could improve her work life balance by reducing her commute and working closer to home, she applied for the role as soon as it was advertised and was delighted to be offered the position and has settled in well.
Commenting on her move, she said: “I was attracted to New Care as the company has the same values and care ethos as myself. New Care homes are such positive places, filled with life and laughter and I strive to use my caring and compassionate nature to create a relaxed and happy home-from-home environment for both our residents and our staff team.”
Commissioning director, Dawn Collett, added: “We’re delighted to welcome Helen to the team. She has already made such a difference and I am confident that she will continue to excel in her new role.”
Age 44, Helen is married with three children, two dogs and one guinea pig. When not working she enjoys watching her daughter play netball, socialising with friends and family and walking the dogs.
Part of the New Care group, Bramhall Manor is a stylish and luxurious 71-bed purpose-built care centre in the friendly village of Bramhall in Stockport. Offering outstanding residential, dementia, 24-hour nursing and respite care services, the state-of-the-art care centre features fully furnished bedrooms, each with a private en suite wet room, plus a selection of communal lounges and dining rooms along with a nail bar, hairdresser, landscaped gardens and outdoor terraces. For further information, please visit www.newcarehomes.com.
To celebrate this years National Pizza Day, our Chef Luke from Back to the Garden Childcare Lymm has shared with us this delicious recipe that you can make at home with your family or friends. Enjoy!
Ingredients
480ml lukewarm water
1 pinch sugar
1.5 tablespoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons olive oil
685g all purpose flour or bread flour
1.5 teaspoons salt
Method
In the bowl of your stand up mixer (or a large bowl if you knead by hand) add the warm water and sugar, sprinkle the yeast on top, let sit for 5-10 minutes, then stir to combine. Continue with Machine or Hand.
Mixing by machine
Add the olive oil, flour and salt, with the hook attachment start to combine on low speed #1, scrape the hook and then raise to medium speed #2 and knead for approximately 5-7 minutes or until you have a smooth elastic dough (scrape the hook halfway through kneading).
Mixing by hand
Add the olive oil, flour and salt, then with a fork mix until the dough starts to come together. On a lightly floured surface remove dough from the bowl and knead until dough is smooth and elastic approximately 10 minutes (if dough is really sticky add a little extra flour).
Next steps
Place in a lightly oiled bowl, roll the dough to cover lightly with the oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a large clean kitchen towel, leave in a warm draft free area until doubled in bulk, approximately 2 hours.**
Pre heat oven to 450° (250° celsius). Punch dough down a few times and divide into 1-3 balls, let dough rest for 20 minutes.
Place the dough in the desired pizza or cookie sheets (lightly oiled) and shape the dough into the desired shapes (using your clean hands).
Top with your favourite toppings (without the cheese), bake for approximately 15-20 minutes (until crust is golden) and then top with grated mozzarella cheese and bake for three more minutes or until cheese is melted. Enjoy!
**At this point, dough can also be refrigerated, place in plastic bag, remove air and tie securely up to 24 hours.
Easy Pizza Sauce
In a medium bowl add a can of diced or pureed tomatoes, add 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon basil, a sprinkle of salt, tablespoon or two of olive oil and stir to combine. Top pizza dough.
McGoff Group Facilities Services have partnered with Salford City College to provide 5 apprenticeship opportunities across their Electrical and Joinery divisions.
In July we held our very first Apprenticeship Assessment Day at our Head Office in Altrincham. A variety of interactive workshops were held throughout the day with a view to selecting the candidates to progress to interview stage.
Bright sparks Jude, Lucas, Ethan and Ryan were successful in the selection process and have joined the Electrical Division which is headed up by M&E Operations Manager Conor Mitchell. The apprentices will be undertaking the Level 3 course in Electrical Installation & Maintenance.
Keen woodworker Jay has joined the Joinery Division under the watchful eye of Contracts Manager Tony Brunskill, undertaking the Level 2 Carpentry & Joinery Course.
On their first day at McGoff HQ the apprentices were kitted out with full PPE including T shirts, hoodies and trousers, a starter toolkit and McGoff backpack, before heading out to site to meet the teams.
The MGFS/Salford CC apprentice programme is 4 years long, and combines hands on work on our live construction sites alongside their appointed mentors, and college day release.
2022 was our first year of launching our apprenticeship scheme and we have big plans to continue this each year. We are looking to take on plumbing apprentices this September.
McGoff Group HR & Talent Officer; Chloe Miles commented;
“Here at The McGoff Group we consider apprentices to be crucial for our long-term business success. The development of our own skill base through continual training and personal development is pivotal to our forward strategy. We are passionate about creating a platform for our apprentices to succeed with their studies and progress to long term careers at The McGoff Group.”
MGFS Director; Matt Adley commented;
“I, like the business, am passionate about the apprenticeship scheme, it is how I started my career path from leaving school. It is key to the growth of our self-delivery trade divisions and is great to see all of the apprentices flourish, with them enjoying the learning journey, both on site and at college. The apprentices bring so much to the business and the teams they work with.”
Salford City College operate five excellent campus sites across the region with around 1,400 apprentices on programme at any time. They partner with over 500 employers with excellent apprenticeship success rates. Find out more here: https://www.salfordcc.ac.uk/
With all building work now fully complete, Villafont has unveiled a stunning show apartment at its Minerva Place development on Whitbarrow Road in Lymm.
Potential purchasers are now able to step inside the show apartment and visualise what life could be like at this beautiful development of individually designed new build apartments close to Lymm village centre.
Taking inspiration from its leafy surroundings, the show apartment fuses soft greys and pebble tones with burnished ochres and botanical rich greens to create a calm and sophisticated living space that is both elegant and inviting while being still being relaxing and comfortable.
Designed and operated by Villafont (part of The McGoff Group), Minerva Place is a desirable new concept in later living; apartments boast a superior internal specification and enhanced lifestyle package including elements of domestic help or home care providing residents with a luxurious way to continue living independently with the option to ask for a little extra help as and when needed.
Each apartment has been designed to exacting standards to appeal to even the most discerning of purchasers and the first phase of properties has already been reserved by buyers looking to secure their dream retirement home in this beautiful location,
Filled with light, and with well designed, spacious layouts that feature open plan kitchen dining and lounge areas with high quality kitchens and appliances, and with master bedrooms with private en suites, apartments at Minerva Place have been designed with care and attention to detail.
Built to the highest standards, properties are also highly energy efficient and environmentally friendly with all homes benefitting from a car parking space, plus two additional spaces that include electric vehicle charging points, the use of an internal lift and well maintained communal areas and landscaped gardens.
Minerva Place is nestled in a quiet, leafy corner of the lovely village of Lymm, adjacent to the Trans Pennine Trail and just a short walk from the centre. Boasting an idyllic setting on the banks of the Bridgewater Canal and a charming cobbled centre that combines history and heritage with cosmopolitan modern life, a busy calendar of community events and thriving food and drink scene, Lymm is a highly sought after place to live for many reasons.
Minerva Place forms part of a wider development that also features an award winning care centre and natural child-led day nursery, creating a new concept in multi-generation living that brings young and those in later life together to form a vibrant community with proven health, social and wellbeing benefits for all.
With build now fully complete, all apartments are ready to view and ready to move into (as of 1 February 2023). Starting price for a one bedroom apartment is £210,000 and £310,000 for a two bedroom apartment. For further information, to request a brochure or make an appointment to visit the show apartment, please contact Paul Danks on 07881 636 956 or email paul.danks@mcgoffgroup.com.
