Bridge consortium opens Time Bank applications to help Halton community
The team building the Mersey Gateway Bridge between Runcorn and Widnes is launching a new initiative – the Merseylink Time Bank – to provide long-standing benefits for people living and working in the Halton area.
Apply for support from the Merseylink Time Bank
Hugh O’Connor, General Manager of the Merseylink consortium says the Merseylink Time Bank is a way for the consortium to give practical help and support to local organisations, community projects, educational establishments and the local authority.
“The Mersey Gateway has recently reached some significant milestones, achieving financial close and marking the start of construction work with an official groundbreaking ceremony,” Hugh said.
“Now, as we work through the construction phase of the project over the next three-and-a-half years, the Merseylink Time Bank will provide an innovative way of matching the skills of our expert team with local needs to provide long-lasting benefits to the community.”
How it works:
- The Merseylink Time Bank acts as a way for its experienced teams of experts and suppliers to give their time to commit to helping local organisations
- Each of its partner organisations and major suppliers will offer an amount of time as their deposit
- These time deposits can be used to provide real, practical support to those who need it
Neil Wilcock, Employment and Skills Co-ordinator at Merseylink, added: “A minimum of 100 days per year will be committed through the Time Bank to offer support in the community. This could range from providing construction and engineering expertise, to environmental or human resource support.
“Individuals from the partnership will also offer more personal commitments such as mentoring, coaching, fundraising or presentation skills to help young people or jobseekers in the area.”
Merseylink will work with Halton Borough Council and Halton & St. Helens Voluntary and Community Action to ensure deposits are matched, and used effectively to secure clear and measurable community benefits.
Rob Polhill, Leader of Halton Borough Council said: “This is a fantastic initiative that will give back to the community as the building work on the Mersey Gateway bridge progresses.
“I would encourage anyone that feels they would benefit from this expertise to get in touch with Merseylink and apply for assistance.”
Merseylink is now accepting applications to benefit for Time Bank assistance from any Halton-based organisation or resident. To apply and for more information visit: https://merseygateway.co.uk/merseylink/time-bank/ or email: Neil.Wilcock@Merseylink.com
The partners and major suppliers participating in Merseylink Time Bank are:
- Macquarie Capital
- FCC Construccion S.A.
- Bilfinger Project Investments
- Kier Infrastructure & Overseas Ltd
- Samsung C&T Corporation
- Sanef S.A.
- Flint & Neill
- URS Infrastructure & Environment UK
