The most recent issue of Q&A Magazine (the most essential guide for schools to purchasing services and products) has featured an article from our managing director Simon Fearnehough. The article talks about how the company is supporting environmental issues by incorporating them into the design of our products – most notably, our play equipment range which is manufactured entirely out of recycled plastic and our unique eco classrooms.
The article can be seen below
A lot of schools need to find external funding for our extensive range of playground products and we get asked so many times about where do you start and how much time is this all going to take. We have therefore recently partnered with an excellent company called GD Funding who can help schools access the required funds for their projects.
GD Funding are one of the UK’s leading and most successful funding providers who have delivered funding solutions to well over 700 schools since 2014. As part of their overall service, they provide an extensive funding and bid writing service for schools & community organisations (including PTAs) to obtain funding through a variety of different sources. Projects we can help you find funding for include the following:
FOREST SCHOOL PROJECTS including fire pit shelters and cabins; den making; seating; storage
TRIM TRAILS including adventure and fitness trails in recycled plastic or timber
OUTDOOR CLASSROOMS AND SHELTERS
ECO CLASSROOMS
ARTS AND PERFORMANCE PROJECTS
SENSORY AND COMMUNICATION SPACES
NATURE OBSERVATION PROJECTS
GARDENING
We know how hard it can be to raise funds to get those all important upgrades and new equipment items. We are here to help ! With over 15 years experience in achieving funding totalling over £8,000,000, we can now offer low cost solutions to achieve your funding goals and allow you the time to do what you do best.
What strange and challenging times we currently find ourselves in where the only certainty at the moment is the uncertainty.
With schools now shut until further notice, we do all appreciate that there will be a sense of nervousness about the future – which is totally understandable in light of the mitigating circumstances – but this time will pass and we will beat it. Life will eventually go on – it has to.
At the Hideout House Company, we are taking every single day in our stride and are going forward with a positive mindset. Of course, our primary aims are to keep our staff safe and well, to keep business coming in and to keep installing at schools up and down the country.
We are always asked by school staff for a holiday time installation for the products we sell them. It is simply easier as you don’t have to disrupt a school day if there are workmen on site installing playground equipment or an outdoor classroom, we don’t have to work to restricted arrival times for unloading etc and we can easily get access to the school building for toilets, power and water. And we don’t have to down tools during play time hours or seal off the site area with security tape and cordons.
So let’s take advantage therefore of this extraordinary time when schools are shut due to the corona virus. Our installation crews – which are usually no more than two to three men – will be working outdoors (and not indoors) so there is very little risk of passing on the virus and they will keep to the social distancing guidelines when they do meet staff at the school such as the site manager.
And with school staff and leadership teams working from home, we are very much hoping that orders can still be processed and placed with companies such as ours so that we don’t have to shut our doors with the obvious consequences. We will always support schools with our high quality products at affordable prices and so therefore we very much hope that they will continue to help companies such as ours by placing orders to keep the old engine ticking over until the better times return.
In the meantime, stay safe and positive.
If you would like any further information regarding the above, please do not hesitate to contact us.
We have just completed a building for St John the Evangelist Church in Littlewick Green, Berkshire which is going to be used as a Sunday school room. We have provided many kinds of these types of buildings in the past to schools but not one for a church so it was quite a unique and welcome brief for us.
The reason for the building’s requirement in the first place is that there is nowhere within the current church where families and children can congregate on a Sunday and where the local church community can also convene.
The church wanted a building which was sympathetic to the local environment, was not a me too “box” and was capable of being self-sufficient. We therefore designed a 7m x 4m building which was to be clad externally in cedar in order to give it that extra “cabin” look and feel with a hipped cedar shingle tile roof.
The building was also to feature a lot of glass to allow in extra natural daylight. Internally, we allowed for a timber vaulted ceiling (rather than have a suspended roof which would have boxed in the cabin) and the internal walls featured a white painted, profile grooved boarding. As the cabin had to be independent from the church, we also allowed for a WC (which is actually off grid) and a kitchenette facility to make hot drinks and to act as a food preparation area. The building is also fully insulated to the floor, roof and walls.
Part of the stipulations of the planning permission was that we had to protect the roots of the nearby surrounding trees so our standard foundations were not in play in this instance. We therefore used a non-intrusive plinth foundation system which is only dug into the ground by a maximum of 300mm thereby not disturbing any of the roots. 12 of these were used under the building.
After gaining all of the necessary consents from the planning authorities and the Church, we started the work fairly quickly once it had been green lighted. The whole build job was completed within 10 days including all of the electrics and plumbing which were undertaken by local contractors. The Church are already using it and are delighted with the building.
These buildings are modular so we can build them to different shapes and sizes and we offer a whole host of options – roof and external timber claddings, hipped, pent and traditional pitched roofs, different levels of insulation, foundation systems including ground screws and plinths, renewable energy systems and assistance with planning if so required.
For further information on our range of enclosed buildings, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01832 275902 or email: info@hideouthouse.com
With toilet and kitchenette
For a long time now, we have developing products for schools which promote environmental awareness and nurture an appreciation of the planet and its finite resources. Such products include our playground equipment and other playground products (planters, sandboxes, mud kitchens etc) made entirely out of recycled plastic; our eco classrooms which feature living roofs and living walls, renewable energy systems, sheepswool insulation and even special dynamo bikes the children have to pedal to produce electricity!
This year we have seen an increasing amount of sales for our educational renewable energy equipment. We usually sell this as part of our eco classroom package but this equipment can also be installed onto existing playground buildings. The equipment is comprised of a solar panel and mini wind turbine (roof mounted) which then feeds down into a control board which is usually sited within our outdoor classroom. This board features two isolator switches, a datalogger, a battery (to store energy produced by the solar panel and turbine), an inverter, two power sockets and a bulk head light.
We have therefore been doing some research work on trying to find specific grants which will fund such equipment and have come up with the list below. This list is by no means exhaustive but is a good as place to start as any.
1) Greggs Environmental Grant
https://www.greggsfoundation.org.uk/environmental-grant
2) Joseph Rowntree Sustainable Fund
https://www.jrct.org.uk/sustainable-future
3) Ernest Cook Trust
http://ernestcooktrust.org.uk/grants/
4) Persimmon Community Champions
https://www.persimmonhomes.com/charity
5) Heathrow Community Trust
https://www.heathrowcommunitytrust.org/need-funding/environmental-and-sustainability-grants
6) M&S Energy Community Fund
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/mandsenergyfund
For more information on our product range, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01832 275902 or email: info@hideouthouse.com
Did you know….?
• Each year about 12.5 million tonnes of plastic is made from fossil fuels
• More than 30% of this plastic is used for short-lived packaging products
• Over 50% of the light packaging materials from household collections consist of plastic
At the Hideout House Company, we believe that our position as one of the UK’s leading suppliers of high performance recycled plastic playground equipment products brings with it a certain responsibility to educate about the importance of recycling as our company ethos is, and always has been, to continue to develop new innovative and sustainable products using recycled materials. Our range also promotes renewable energy and includes outdoor classrooms which are powered by sun, wind and pedal power (children pedal special bikes which have an energy producing dynamo attached).
These playground products – which include trim trails, play towers, play boats, planters, mud kitchens, sandboxes and fencing – are extremely cost effective as their durability and long life expectancy eliminates any on-going maintenance or replacement costs, which further adds to the protection of our environment.
Any off-cuts produced during the manufacturing processes are also fed back into the system. They are re-shredded and then consequently turned into another product. No plastic waste is therefore created during this process and the material does not contain any substances that are harmful to the environment.
For our educational video on this subject matter, please visit:
T: 01832 275902
E: info@hideouthouse.com
So we have this whole big issue of plastic pollution which is wreaking all kinds of havoc on the environment adversely affecting wildlife, wildlife habitat and us, humans.
David Attenborough has told us all about it;
so has Greta Thunberg and even school children from around the world recently went on strike for a day to drive the message home.
And that is why we are now using recycled plastic for our play equipment. Rather than polluting our planet, plastic bottles and cartons can now be 100% recycled and made into recycled plastic which is a low maintenance and environmentally friendly alternative to timber.
Did you know for example that it takes about 2000 plastic bottles to make just one bench?
So rubbish can be transformed into a useful, high quality playground product.
But there is more. As well as its extremely eco friendly credentials, there are also lots of other benefits:-
• It will never rot or degrade as it can easily tolerate damp conditions
• It will never splinter or have cracks and shakes
• It is extremely low maintenance
• It is hard wearing and exceptionally durable lasting five times longer than timber and does not degrade with age
• It is UV, graffiti, algae and insect resistant
Some very good reasons therefore to make playground products out of this material and by doing so, this demonstrates a good environmental practice within your school.
Trim trail on wet pour
For more information on our range of recycled plastic playground products, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01832 275902 or email: info@hideouthouse.com
Play area with wet pour
Many of our customers are individuals who have been delegated the task of creating or updating a play space but do not know where to begin. So we would advise you to design the space yourself by involving your students. Head teachers, councils and funding groups across the UK have expressed a need to find a way to get their students/pupils involved in planning and choosing equipment for their new playgrounds. The Hideout House Company has therefore taken these requests and created a programme that not only allows the children to easily get involved but also to incorporate it into the curriculum of maths, ICT and design.
Step One
Have the students head outside with tape measures and grid line paper to measure and draw the space available for the new playground. Ideal locations are flat and have few barriers such as trees or buildings
Step Two
Have the students sit down in a group and brainstorm items such as what ages will be using the playground? How many children on average are using the play space at any given time? Are there needs on the playground such as shelter from the sun and rain, a place to exercise, a place for creative role play or even just a space to sit and socialise? And is the playground in a location where it is accessible when the school is closed to the local community or is it secured and locked up?
Step Three
Reveal and discuss the budget with the students allowing them to understand the costs of this new playground. This will in turn give them a sense of pride and responsibility to take care of the new play equipment.
Step Four
In your ICT room allow the students to enter in all the information they have gathered starting with the dimensions of the space and the budget
Step Five
Scroll through the products available and this includes everything from climbing towers, fitness trails, outdoor classrooms and shelters etc
Step Six
As they price the items on the playground they will see their budget and remaining budget totals so they will know if they have gone over the budget allowance.
Step Seven
Once they are happy with their space and they have remained within their budget, they can now send this document to us and we will in turn convert it into a playground plan and visual showing the products the children have chosen
Step Eight
Find a spot in your school to post the designs once they have been sent to you and let the students vote on their favourites!
We will come out free of charge and do an official site visit to survey the area, the space and the equipment to verify that the design is accurate and to give you a confirmed quote.
For further information on our range of playground equipment, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01832 275902 or email: info@hideouthouse.com
eco outdoor classroom in cedar wood
Worries and concerns about global warming and the damage we are causing to the stability of the environment are probably now at their highest level with children and youth being the most vocal in raising their concerns. And for good reason.
The eco schools programme is doing a marvellous job in promoting the environmental issue within educational establishments worldwide and as a result children are actively getting involved in programmes which promote healthy living, renewable energy, bio-diversity, recycling and global citizenship.
Over the years, we have developed quite a few products which promote this whole eco schools issue. The most popular of which has always been the eco hub or eco classroom which features our unique renewable energy kit. This system is intended to be an educational learning tool as opposed to being an “off grid” power or electricity supply. The equipment features a mini wind turbine and solar panel which are typically either mounted on a pole or onto the roof of an existing outdoor classroom building or shelter.
The power created by the sun and wind is then fed down into a panel which is wall mounted inside the outdoor classroom. This features a battery (encased) which stores the energy created by the renewables. By way of an inverter, this energy is then translated into low power usable electricity via two double power sockets which the children can plug their laptops, visualisers, tablets etc into. Green energy in its purest form at their finger tips!
The board also features two isolators and a data logger. So for example the children can shut down the wind turbine if it is a hot sunny day and there is no wind. By way of the datalogger facility, they can see how much energy is being provided by the solar panel alone. Ditto if it was a very windy today, they could isolate the wind turbine and close down the solar panel.
The system can be featured on any outdoor classroom or shelter or play ground building as long as the roof is strong enough and there are sufficient internal fixing points for the board.
It certainly promotes environmental awareness and an appreciation of how renewable energy is created. And it may be used too for certain eco school accreditations.
To see the system in action please visit the website link below:
For further information, please contact the Hideout House Company on 01832 275902 or email: info@hideouthouse.com
display and monitoring board
eco outdoor classroom in cedar wood
It has been so heartening to witness the recent events of young people – aka school children – demonstrating so vociferously against the devastations of climate change and global warming. From the inspiring speeches of the Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg to the recent student marches in and around all major cities of the world, the world has finally found a unified voice and that voice is youth. I do believe that in the years to come, history will judge the day when a teenage girl in Scandinavia decided to bunk off school and protest about the environment as one of the major turning points in finally getting the leaders of the world to sit up, listen and act.
And young people have every right to be angry or feel frustrated at world leaders and politicians as they are the ones who are going to inherit and deal with the major problems that climate change will bring. And whatever you believe, it surely has to be obvious to everyone that something is quite not right with the planet and that is what is happening right now today is just the start.
There are no quick fixes that is for sure but I have always believed that if the younger generation of today are aware of the major issues facing the planet (and they obviously are in light of the recent worldwide protests) and can act in a more respectful way that is almost second nature to them, then we are perhaps in with a fighting chance. And that all starts with education.
There is already a very good international programme that runs within educational establishments called Eco Schools (it currently engages 19.5 million children across 67 countries) which essentially promotes and informs on issues such as recycling, bio-diversity, energy, healthy living, transport and waste.
So what have we done as the Hideout House Company to promote the environmental cause? Well, quite a lot actually. We have now fully developed our range of playground products which are manufactured out of recycled plastic as opposed to the more traditional timber. This material is 100% recycled from plastic cartons so has very good eco credentials. This range now takes in trim trails, playboats, planters, tables, mud kitchens and play towers.
And our very own eco hub is proving to be very popular too. This includes a shelter (available in different shapes and sizes) with a grass living roof, a water butt and roof guttering system (for rainwater harvesting) and our educational renewable energy equipment. This particular feature was designed and developed in house and includes a solar panel and mini wind turbine which is mounted on the roof; this in turn feeds down into a monitoring control panel which is secured on a wall within the shelter where a battery stores the energy created by the turbine and solar panel. This is then turned into usable electricity by way of an inverter so that the children can plug in their mobiles, laptops, tablets etc into the two outdoor sockets on the board. We feel that there is no better way to teach children about the creation of renewable energy – “green power” at their fingertips!
We have also created outdoor classrooms which are pedal powered i.e. children pedalling on specially adapted dynamo bikes to create enough electricity to charge sound systems, lights and portable cinemas. And it has another plus side too in that it burns off the calories as the children know that if they stop pedalling, so does the power.
For more information on our range of eco friendly products for schools, please given us a call on 01832 275902 or visit wwww.hideouthouse.com
Play Tower Duo Low Level in recycled plastic