Creative Van Art Project

Building on our apprenticeship and employment work with Kirkby Stephen School, we developed a further project in partnership with our client Eden Housing Association to help young people express their feelings about the local community.

Our Managing Director, Gordon McGregor, led a visit to the school in the Summer term of 2015, with the objective of stimulating students to think about their community in a positive way and discover a range of job opportunities whilst doing so. To help spark interest in the construction and maintenance sector, we decided to challenge pupils to create a design which could be transferred onto the bonnet of a PPM van.

The project generated significant enthusiasm and interest from the school pupils and as a result the quality of the designs was outstanding. So much so, that when it came to judging them (led by Gordon and Eden’s Managing Director, John Clasper), a clear winner could not be found, meaning that two winners were selected instead! Both Alice Fawcett and Nathan Wolstenholme had their designs transferred onto PPM vans.

Commenting on the winning entries, the judges said “Alice’s design made an impression with colour and content and encompassed so much of the community and environment. In contrast, Nathan’s design had a real impact, the simplicity and the quality of his illustrations were excellent and it has a strong sporting link.”

Head Teacher Ruth Houston said “The school is delighted to work with local businesses like Eden Housing Association and PPM Ltd as part of our growing links between the school and local community. The title of this project “what our community means to me” was very meaningful and real for the students and it’s great to know the PPM vans will be seen regularly around the area.”