An hour for others

Megan Ryan, 15, and her sister Tasha, 14, live in Fazakerley with their dad Ken and younger brother Liam, 12 The family were hit by tragedy in 2015 when mum Tracey was diagnosed with cancer at just 46, with three young children. Tracey was told she had cancer in her liver, stomach and kidneys on October 12, 2015 - and she died just 12 days later in Woodlands Hospice.

Since losing his wife, 43-year-old Ken has been left trying to rebuild his life and raise his children alone - but he's had help from incredible Liverpool charity An Hour For Others.

The charity encourages individuals and businesses to share their time and skills to help improve the lives of others in their community. That is when Amspec asked how we could help An Hour For Others - who decided Megan and Tasha deserved a treat.

Amspec and An Hour For Others surprised the girls by completely transforming the bedroom they share into a stunning new space.

We completely stripped the room and rebuilt it, with a clever design making the most of the limited space available. Built-in bunk-beds and wardrobes meant the girls could finally have their own space.

A poignant framed photo on the lower bunk-bed shows Tracey holding her three young children, in happier times for the family. The look on the girls faces to seeing their new room for the first time says it all.

Embrace

Wigan & Leigh

Embrace are a local charity who are dedicated to supporting people with disabilities and their families.  Their mission is to ensure that all disabled people have the opportunity to be valued, included and have real choice. After learning about Embrace and their mission, we knew their values aligned with our own and asked if we could help them in their upcoming refurbishment project.

As well as supporting our local community, the charity is also close to our heart for more personal reasons. Jane Roberts was a close family friend of our MD, Andrew Maxwell & his wife Janice Maxwell. Jane worked at Embrace for a number of years helping families recruit Personal Assistants to support their loved ones. Sadly, Jane recently passed away. Jane was passionate about the Personal Assistant service, she did a lot of work on this project, shaping it into the service it is today. 

Amspec refurbished the community hub as well as designing and manufacturing a number of bespoke joinery items that will help them achieve this goal. On Friday 22nd July, the Amspec team were invited to the Grand Opening of the new Community Hub. Amspec MD, Andrew Maxwell was given the honour of cutting the ribbon to signify the opening.

The new Community Hub and Café will provide a space for Embrace to hold new Community Circles to support adults who feel lonely or isolated. They will allow people to get connected with their communities by linking them with local activities they enjoy, including Arts & Crafts, Gaming & Cooking Circles. We are grateful for everything Embrace has done for our local community and we hope that the new Hub contributes in some way to enhancing the lives of those who use it.

Find out more here

Manchester Youth

Zone

Amspec teamed up with Manchester Youth Zone to help out their Family, Schools and Community Team to deliver and build their stage in time for their Christmas Dance Showcase.

Originally, the charity had other plans but when they fell through last minute, they turned to Amspec to help! We are proud to support a local charity and appreciate all the work they do for the youth of Manchester. 

The Samaritans

CBRE asked us to help refurbish the Samaritans’ Manchester & Salford branch, based in Manchester City Centre. Running for over 65 years, Samaritans are a well-known charity aimed at providing support to anyone in emotional distress. Their Manchester branch holds over 200 volunteers from all over the Manchester & Salford area and their offices were in need of some TLC.

After chatting to the volunteers, they explained that because a lot of their work is sensitive, they aren't able to work from home, so it was important that not only they have a practical and comfortable office space to work in, it also meant that the refurbishment works had to be scheduled around their shifts so as not to interrupt their calls.

CBRE managed the project and found numerous suppliers willing to donate items that we could use in the refurb.  First, we completely stripped out two offices, W.C’s kitchen and corridors. The refurbishment works included; new doors, lighting, decoration including wall finishes, skirting, architraves, door frames, new carpets, lighting, fire & security systems, M&E, and data including Wifi Access, CCTV Screens, a new TV & projector. We also refurbished the W.C’s and manufactured a new kitchen to replace the old one.

We appreciate the work that the Samaritans do and hope we have contributed in some way into improving their time at work.  

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Manchester Youth Zone

Easter Delivery

Amspec have teamed up with Manchester Youth Zone and CR Construction Company Limited to deliver care packages for local families in need this Easter!

Manchester Youth Zone are a charity that help change the lives of vulnerable young people. They help children and teenagers aged 8-19 to raise their aspirations and enjoy healthier, happier lives.

Catrin Aherne, the Head of People & Shared Services at MYZ explained that they were planning to deliver care packages to their local families most in need but unfortunately had an issue with their mini buses. Amspec jumped at the chance to help and offered use of our vans along with help from our staff to ensure the packages were delivered in time for Easter.

The care packages included essentials such as food, shampoo, washing powder, cleaning products and toothpaste a long with an Easter treat to brighten their day!

Thank you to Manchester Youth Zone for allowing us to be involved in this project, we respect and appreciate the work you do for the youth of Manchester and glad we were able to offer our services!

Staff Wellbeing 

• We offer an Employee Assistance wellbeing programme which offers 24/7 access to counselling, mental and physical health & wellbeing support along with confidential medical advice.
• We offer bespoke training to upskill our workforce and enhance our employees' careers.
• We hold monthly staff brunches for the office staff to take a step away from their desks and have time to strengthen interpersonal relationships.
• We offer additional annual leave to allow staff to take part in voluntary work with local and national organisations.
• At Amspec, we promote policies and practices that are inclusive for all, in accordance with race, age, gender equality, sexual orientation, religion or religious belief or ability.
• We make our policies clearly visible to our customers and suppliers, and seek opportunities to work together and improve both our own methods and those of our partner organisations.