On the 4th of June around 250 guests and members of the public attended Alumet's Sustainability Open Day in Southam, Warwickshire. On what turned out to be the hottest day of the year, the specialist construction facade company's car park was transformed into a sustainability market with 23 stalls displaying the latest in renewable technologies and a range of local organic produce. The afternoon also consisted of seminars and interactive educational games all aimed at increasing environmental awareness.
 
Legendary TV botanist Dr. David Bellamy OBE officially opened Alumet's new 'Green Vision' garden; an area of wasteland that was recently nothing more than a dumping ground has now been transformed to a genuine wildlife garden complete with a pond, insect stack, butterfly box, wormery and various bat, bird and bumble bee boxes. Mr. Bellamy was present for the whole afternoon and as well as visiting every stall, spent time in the garden answering questions on the various plants and wildlife present. He conducted the watching staff and guests in a rendition of 'Happy Birthday' ... to the Garden's ash tree(!) before unveiling the commemorative plaque.  
 
The afternoon began with a speech from Alumet Director Dean Walton who thanked everyone for attending and outlined the company's vision for the future, Mr. Walton then introduced Councillor Bertie MacKay - Chairman of Warwick District Council who praised the company on its sustainable values and presented the ISO14001 certificate to Alumet's Environmental Manager Lee Summers. David Bellamy was next up and in his own inimitable style the 77 year old TV star explained how he had started his working life in the construction industry before presenting the coveted Green Apple award to Managing Director Gary Summers, insisting that the watching crowd shouted 'WOW' in celebration! Mr.Summers then brought the formal part of the proceedings to a close by stating that "the garden has been constructed for every member of staff to enjoy, it will provide the perfect environment for the factory staff to spend their lunch break away from their machines and the office staff to have a break from their computer screens, I hope the garden will provide the focal point to provide better unity between all departments within the company" 
 
Chairman of Stratford-On-Avon District Council Sir William Lawrence Bt, Lady Tamara Lawrence, Deputy Major of Southam Councillor Andy Crump and Lord & Lady Kilmaine also attended the event.

Alumet has made remarkable progress since formation in 1992 and is now rated as one of the UK's top 5 building envelope contractors, in the past 12 months the company has introduced sustainable / environmental improvements and procedures across every department within the business, from their design offices, through the fabrication plant and on-site installation. Their efforts were rewarded when Alumet gained ISO14001 accreditation last month as well as receiving the Green Apple award for Environmental excellence. Alumet's recent environmental commitments don't end there - the company has committed locally to sponsoring flowers around the town via the 'Southam in Bloom' scheme as well as on a worldwide scale by sponsoring 5,000 trees in the Amazon rainforest! This will enable the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to protect these trees from illegal logging, and help to save the millions of unique species in the forest that are under threat.  
 
Alumet pride themselves on their forward-thinking attitude, as evident from their new 'zero-defects' initiative, which is intended to eliminate 'snagging' and ensure that their facades are handed over on programme and defect free.
 
Director Dean Walton is positive about the future and said "the Sustainability Open Day was the result of an enormous team effort, it was fantastic to be able to showcase the various renewable technologies that the company is investing in such as photovoltaic panels and solar shading. It was also a great way of getting the local community involved and raising a lot of money for charity at the same time"
 
Alumet's chosen charity for 2010 is the Motor Neurone Disease Association, various fundraising events have already taken place this year and the open day provided yet more opportunities to raise funds with the company taking contributions via a charity book stall, tombola, food & drinks and donations from the stall holders. A total of £820.00 was raised during the afternoon alone. Ben Sharpe who manned the MND Associations stand at the open day was overwhelmed by the company's efforts "It is brilliant for a company such as Alumet to get involved with our association, the afternoon has generated a marvellous atmosphere and everybody has been very supportive, David Bellamy even came over for a chat and seemed genuinely interested in this worthwhile cause"

Photos:
1 - Alumet Managing Director Gary Summers & Dr David Bellamy pose by the Green Vision Garden with the Green Apple Award
2 - The Alumet team pose with local dignitaries and Dr David Bellamy
3 - Dr David Bellamy presents to guests