Maidstone River Festival 2010 – Sponsoring the Raft Race

The banks of the River Medway through Maidstone were packed with people on Saturday 31st July at the annual River Festival. This year Strata Construction Group Ltd sponsored the Raft Race, one of the biggest (and wettest!) attractions of the festival. Teams are encouraged to take part by building their own raft, with prizes given for the “fastest” and “best dressed” rafts. Being a construction company we obviously had high expectations upon us, we could not embarrass ourselves by sinking! A quick test on the local lakes before the race gave us plenty of confidence in our efforts and we thought we were prepared for what was to come, how naive we were!
In total 15 teams took part in the race, with 2 entries competing for the “fastest” title and the rest of us just hoping to cross the finish line in one piece. The “Stratans” did a grand job of paddling up the river and we came in at a modest 9th place.

However, staying dry was not an option! We imagined we would get “a bit” wet but as soon as we entered the water we realised the full scale of what was to come! The fight between the rafts started before we’d even reached the start line and involved so much more than just a few water pistols. We were bombarded with eggs, flour, ketchup and even baked beans! Once we set off the ambush was continued by a large number of spectators, merrily throwing water bombs and even dropping them from the bridges as we passed underneath. On crossing the finish line we were treated to a final soaking by water cannon which took our breath away! Soaking wet, we then paddled the entire length of the course back to the start, much easier this time as the flow was with us.

All the staff involved had a fantastic time and it was great to be a part of the festival which supports so many good causes, including charities such as Shelterbox and Hospital Radio. We look forward to next year’s festival and next time we will be better prepared!

Kilimanjaro Climb for Scope

On the 18th June Simon & Teresa Page travelled to Tanzania to take part on the Kilimanjaro Trek 2010 for Scope, the charity for cerebral palsy. As part of a group of 18 fundraisers, the pair successfully completed the 6 day trek to the summit - Uhuru Peak.

Strata are proud to have sponsored the brother and sister duo, who covered 60km and reached a height of 5,896m above sea level during the trek. Their eight hour night-time summit attempt was rewarded with the opportunity to see the sunrise over Tanzania when they reached the peak.

Simon and Teresa’s magnificent efforts raised over £7000 for Scope, with a group total reaching £60,000. Strata would like to congratulate all who took part and are grateful for the opportunity to support such a good cause.

Special thanks to Smart T’s Ltd for providing the Strata T-shirts and Flag.www.t-shirt.uk.com.

This year our Charity & Community Day took place at Vinters Valley Nature Reserve in Maidstone.

Open to the public every day of the year, the Reserve is a wildlife oasis providing homes to many species of plants and animals, and is a small piece of tranquility just outside the hustle and bustle of Maidstone town centre.

Despite the blazing hot weather and insect bites, Strata Staff successfully completed two projects within the Reserve. Firstly, building a permanent home for the new “Minibeast Farm” created by the Warden, Steve Songhurst. The “farm” consists of small piles of pallets, roof tiles, stones and similar materials, providing the perfect environment for all sorts of creepy crawlies. The idea is that the visiting children can turn over the materials and find woodlice, worms, spiders and other insects and bugs. Strata Staff constructed a post and rail fence complete with gate to protect this area from animals such as horses that currently share the field at periods throughout the year. This proved hard work as the holes for the posts were dug by hand and the field lies on a bed of rag stone!

Our second task was to replace fencing at the public entrance to the Reserve on New Cut Road. This involved removing the old fencing, clearing back some of the shrubbery, and building new post and rail fencing around the existing gate. The fencing needed to keep the access point large enough for pushchairs but small enough to prevent misuse of the Reserve by motorbikes. Again, the holes were dug by hand, only this time the obstacles were very large tree roots.

All Strata Employees had the opportunity to participate in the event, giving office staff a chance to get hands-on for a change. Everyone involved enjoyed being able to give something back to the community, with all labour and materials being provided free of charge by Strata.

To find out more about Vinters Valley Nature Reserve please click the link: Vinters Valley.