Manchester-based wood recyclers EMERGE Touch Wood partner with Willmott Dixon to support the local community

Manchester-based Community Wood Recyclers Touch Wood EMERGE have partnered with Willmott Dixon to build a new sheltered workshop for the Petrus Incredible Edibles Rochdale Project (PIER). PIER provides meaningful activity for homeless people to improve their health and wellbeing, helping them to engage with the wider community and enabling them to gain skills and experience.

In 2015 PIER gained a piece of wasteland which service users, the public and various groups and organisations have transformed into a thriving community garden which local people can use to grow, learn and relax. The project offers volunteering opportunities, structured group sessions for schools and other organisations and a gardening on prescription scheme. However, too often their activities have been stopped by wet weather.

Now thanks to the generosity of Willmott Dixon and the hard work of the team at Touch Wood, the new workshop will allow volunteers to work and enjoy a cuppa and a chat whatever the weather. The Petrus team will be able to plan a wide variety of activities including social prescribing, come rain or shine.

Touch Wood Commercial Director Mike Taylor said:

“We were delighted to be invited by Willmott Dixon to use reclaimed timber to build a structure for such a worthwhile project. We were able to work with the volunteers at PIER to design the benches for the workshop, giving them a chance to make their own contribution. The finished workshop is a real team effort, and everyone involved can be very proud of what they have created.

“Willmott Dixon has been using Touch Wood EMERGE in the Manchester area since 2014. This support for our social enterprise has made a real difference to the lives of local people, and this project is just one example of how we can work together to create positive social impact in our communities.”