The Welsh Centre for Action on Dependency and Addiction (WCADA) has been providing support and treatment for those affected by substance misuse for over 30 years.  Based in Swansea Bay and Bridgend, the agency is one of the leading substance misuse treatment centres in Wales using strategies and support tailored to individuals needs.

One of the innovative support treatments offered is the DOMINO programme.  The project helps individuals to develop motivation for new outlooks in life, predominantly using creative and recreational activities to provide new experiences and diversionary therapy.

There are daily activities available which include cookery, craft lessons, music sessions, hiking and photography classes with group leaders seeking interesting and engaging events to motivate the group members.

Earlier in 2016 the group were offered the chance to develop a community allotment in Mumbles. Committing to a task in mid-winter with limited budget and resources was a challenging opportunity for DOMINO Project Manager Lynn Davies who spread the word through her network. Within days Lynn had received offers of support and supplies including construction materials from Recipro Wales.

Recipro Wales is a collaborative project between Constructing Excellence in Wales, Swansea Care and Repair and the inventors of Recipro-UK (www.recipro-uk.com), to arrange the donation of surplus materials to charitable organisations and community projects.

DOMINO received supplies of timber and pallets which enabled the group to construct a meeting place at the allotments, giving them the chance to hold the activity whatever the weather and while planting seeds, the group could reflect on their plans and discuss their future goals.

Offering therapeutic activities whilst being environmentally conscious is an important principle for DOMINO.  Project Manager Lynn Davies explains: “Our project supports individuals to discover diversionary pastimes helping to inspire our group members and by giving training and education allowing them to easily keep up their new found interest in their home environment.  It’s vital that our sessions use affordable and accessible materials and supplies so the connection with Recipro Wales has been fantastic and ensured good value for our budget and reduction of waste reusing perfectly good materials that may have otherwise been disposed of to landfill.”

Small quantities of unused, surplus construction materials are donated to Recipro Wales by construction businesses and these materials are available for community groups, schools and social enterprises to access at heavily discounted rates for use in projects – giving useful materials a second chance and avoiding costly disposal.  You can view items available for reuse here: Recipro Wales - type ‘Wales’ in the search bar.

If you are interested in finding out more and joining a growing  network of businesses who are reducing site waste and supporting local communities you can make direct contact with the project team – Daniel Bowcott on 029 2049 3322 , Daniel.Bowcott@cewales.org.uk  or  Darren Plummer swansea@recipro-city.co.uk or call 07825 250963

Preparations for the £2.8bn electrification of the South Wales mainline to London are starting soon, but will cause delays – but it will be worth it for everyone in the end.

Rail travellers face six weeks of disruption as works starts to prepare to electrify the Severn Tunnel. Network Rail said it will shut the tunnel for nearly six weeks from September. It will be the longest closure of the 130-year-old tunnel for at least 50 years. Passengers will be diverted via Gloucester or use replacement buses, adding at least an hour to journey times.

The work is to prepare for the £2.8bn electrification of the South Wales mainline to London. The actual electrification of the section from Bristol to Cardiff is not expected to be completed until December 2018, according to the latest timetable published by Network Rail. 

Work has already been carried out with four tonnes of soot removed from the tunnel walls and 7,000 holes drilled into the roof. A conductor rail will be installed to provide power. Network Rail said there would be fewer services while the tunnel is closed and added that the work would take four years if only done at weekends.

David Sidebottom, from the group Passenger Director for Transport Focus which represents rail users, said: “The important thing is actually hearing from passengers, and this is the beauty of social media these days. We’ll be gathering that up and making sure Network Rail and train companies are listening to the experience on the day because there will be times when they don’t get things right and it’s important they learn from that and put it right for the following day.”

Dan Tipper from Network Rail said: “We have a significant volume of work going on across the western and Wales routes, and we have to avoid disrupting passengers twice in one journey, so we have to pick a time when we avoid other works.”

Electrification is expected to cut journey times between Swansea and London by 20 minutes. The tunnel will shut on 12th September and reopen on 21st October.

Have you entered the awards? Have you bought your table yet? Have you considered becoming a CEW Awards sponsor? It is the biggest night of the year – now’s the time to plan how you will be involved.

The entries are in and the judges are eyes down checking over the forms looking for their shortlists and eventual winners. The shortlist will be published on Monday 11th April.

The CEW Awards 2016 are being held on Friday at the Celtic Manor Resort on Friday 15th July and are all set to be the biggest night of the Welsh construction year. The evening is always a great celebration of best practice and Welsh talent – but it cannot happen without the support of our sponsors and the participation of delegates and the award entrants.

There are a range of options available – all of which give you and your organisation the chance to showcase your own projects, services and promote your own people. You can have exhibition space, banners, support specific awards or talk to us about a bespoke package just for you.

The CEW Awards dinner is the biggest night of the year for construction in Wales – if you want to be noticed, or you want to remind stakeholders what your organisation does for the industry in Wales then talk to Sue Selkirk about becoming a CEW Awards 2016 sponsor.

The Welsh Government will be presenting details of its current Building Regulations Sustainability Review consultation, which contains proposals for:

• Changes to Part G – Sanitation, Hot Water Safety and Water Efficiency; 
• The introduction of Part Q - Residential Security Part Q – Unauthorised access;
• Non mandatory guidance on the content and presentation of information to householder for new dwellings.
• Changes to the Approved Documents

The North and South Wales events will be an opportunity to gain a clear understanding of the consultation proposals and a full agenda will follow shortly.

The consultation closes on the 24th May 2016 http://goo.gl/pmWxQC

How to Book: This event is free of charge but you must register in advance.

To reserve your place please email CEWales Events stating your full contact details and the names of all delegates wishing to attend.

 In order to reduce wastage at our events CEW operates a policy of only notifying venue details when issuing registration confirmation. This ensures we only cater for delegates who have registered and don’t over order for individuals who may or may not turn up on the day.

 Welsh flyer  

Llywodraeth Cymru: Adolygiad Cynaliadwyedd Rheoliadau Adeiladu  
21 Ebrill Caerdydd: 10yb – 1.30yp 28 Ebrill Llanelwy: 10yb – 1.30yp  
Cost: Dim Cost

Bydd Llywodraeth Cymru yn cyflwyno manylion ei ymgynghoriad cyfredol Adolygiad Cynaliadwyedd Rheoliadau Adeiladu sy’n cynnwys cynigion am:

• Newidiadau i Ran G – Sanitation, Hot Water Safety and Water Efficiency; 
• Cyflwyno Rhan Q – Residential Security Part Q – Unauthorised access;
• Canllawiau nad ydynt yn rhai gorfodol am gynnwys a chyflwyniad gwybodaeth i ddeiliad anheddau newydd.
• Newidiadau i Ddogfennau Cymeradwy

Bydd y sesiynau a gynhelir yn y De a’r Gogledd yn gyfle i ddod i ddealltwriaeth glir o’r cynigion yn yr ymgynghoriad a bydd agenda lawn ar gael yn fuan.
Mae’r ymgynghoriad yn cau 24 Mai 2016 http://goo.gl/WCxMFw

Sut i Archebu: I gadw lle, ebostiwch CEWales Events gan roi eich holl fanylion cyswllt ac enw pob cynrychiolydd sydd am ddod. Gallwch roi enw cynrychiolwyr eraill yn eu lle ar unrhyw adeg.

Er mwyn lleihau gwastraff yn ein digwyddiadau, mae gan CEW bolisi o roi gwybod am fanylion y lleoliad yn unig wrth anfon cadarnhad cofrestru. Mae hyn yn fodd o sicrhau ein bod yn darparu ar gyfer cynrychiolwyr sydd wedi cofrestru ac nad ydym yn gor-archebu ar gyfer unigolion a all ymddangos neu beidio ar y diwrnod.

As the industry continues to face the reality of the performance gap by investigating why our most energy efficient and sustainable designs are still missing their design intents, CEW ran a seminar this week to help frame discussions.

At our Building Better Buildings seminar we heard from Rob Pannell, Dr John Littlewood and Piers Sadler about the InnovateUK’s recent Building Performance Evaluation project. The speakers, all brave enough to set out how the construction industry is failing to deliver for clients also fielded questions from a diverse range of professions in during the Q&A session.

Through the Building Performance Evaluation project 100 sites participated with energy data has been collected from a variety of buildings, design teams have been reformed to investigate the building, occupants have been involved and their feedback provided, and procurement methods have been reviewed. With a project duration of four years the breadth of building types, procurement models and the duration of data collection means there is much to learn from. We encourage you to take a look and the project’s findings to see what your profession can contribute to tackling the performance gap and poor delivery.

Constructing Excellence in Wales are keen to promote debate on the performance gap and get all professions discussing this together are pleased to have received excellent feedback from the event in Cardiff.   

If you want to find out more you can access the presentations from our Building Better Building workshop. We hope to continue with further workshops on the performance gap later this year. Should you have any comments on this topic, please do get in touch by emailing: info@cewales.org.uk  

Crossrail has launched a knowledge-sharing website to spread lessons learned during its construction with the wider industry.

Welsh ambitions to embark upon some landmark infrastructure schemes will benefit from the learning passed on by the new knowledge sharing web site set up by Crossrail. Its Learning Legacy initiative will share good practice on a wide range of topics, including Health & Safety, Project Management, Engineering and the Environment. 

The reaction this week has been very positive with a lot of exchanges of information via social media and strong support from groups such as the Institute of Civil Engineers (ICE). The first tranche of material shares some of the early lessons that have been learned from the Crossrail programme.

It includes technical papers, peer-reviewed case studies and procedures, which have been published on a dedicated website here. Further material will be published every six months during the rest of the project. 

Andrew Wolstenholme, Crossrail Chief Executive, said: “Passing on the lessons and good practice that we have learned at Crossrail is an absolutely essential part of raising the bar in the delivery of major projects. 

“With an unprecedented number of infrastructure schemes around the corner, now is the time to start sharing what we have learned so the UK can build on its reputation for delivering safely, on time and on budget.”

The Government Construction Strategy sets out a new plan to increase productivity in government construction to deliver £1.7 billion efficiencies and support 20,000 apprenticeships over the course of this parliament.

The strategy sets out ambitions for smarter procurement, fairer payment, improving digital skills, reducing carbon emissions, and increasing client capability. These themes are consistent with the wider ambitions for industry in Construction 2025, which is being delivered by industry and government through the Construction Leadership Council.

Increased productivity will support government to deliver the £163 billion of planned projects identified in the spring 2016 Government Construction Pipeline.

This Strategy is part of a suite of documents from the newly-formed Infrastructure and Projects Authority seeking to improve delivery, efficiency and performance across economic and social infrastructure projects in the public, private and regulated sectors.

This builds on the 2011 Government Construction Strategy.

Download; Government Construction Strategy: 2016 - 2020