It is International Women’s Day, a great opportunity to acknowledge the invaluable contribution that women have made to get the world to where it is today. At Kingsgrove, we enjoy celebrating this special day each year, we’ve had female engineering students for a site visit, a networking event at the cafe, and St. Modwen is happy to see that this year residents have organised a fundraising event at Wantage Primary Academy. They are funding Girls Out Loud, a charity which focuses on empowering teenage girls by providing intervention programmes.
From on the ground to behind the scenes, we want to give recognition to all of the hardworking women who have played and continue to play a large part in shaping our world – Kingsgrove. Here are some of the women on the development that we have caught up with:
Leah, Head of Wantage Primary Academy
I have been Principal of Wantage Primary Academy for almost four years. My role itself is varied and includes working with a range of stakeholders. I am extremely proud of the work we have carried out in the community and how we have been able to work with the Kingsgrove developers on several projects, including tree planting, bulb planting, retirement home hoarding pictures, bee workshops and many more.
I love being the Principal of WPA and seeing the children arrive at school each morning with smiling faces and readiness to learn. We have already achieved so much and I know we will continue to go from strength to strength.
Anne, Community Development Officer
Part of the brilliant role I have as Community Development Officer for Kingsgrove involves making connections and helping everyone in the community to come together and join in a range of fun and exciting activities. It’s also about stimulating community participation to encourage resident-led initiatives.
I am thrilled to be working alongside so many residents on a variety of exciting events this year, including wine and cheese evenings, games afternoons, walks to Wantage market, an International Women’s Day event and a new supper club.
Joanne, Director of Heritage Bakery
As a director of The Heritage Bakery, based in Wantage, I work in partnership with St. Modwen Homes and café manager Stephen Treanor to provide Kingsgrove café on the development. It’s been lovely for us to bring our artisan products to Kingsgrove residents and to have a presence in such a friendly and supportive community.
As a Kingsgrove resident myself, I am very fortunate that when I work from home, I have the countryside and lots of green open space on the doorstep. I can easily pop out for a walk to clear my head or take a business call. I also enjoy being able to walk over to the Kingsgrove café to get a coffee and have a chat with the team there.
Anna, Planning Manager
My day-to-day job is overseeing all the planning projects at Kingsgrove, from small landscaping schemes to larger applications for homes, infrastructure and a recent favourite, the central park. I love working at Kingsgrove where I can see a project go from conception to delivery, where year on year you can see the results of the creation of a really vibrant community.
There is a whole host of female talent behind the scenes at Kingsgrove and I’m grateful to work alongside such an inspiring network of women. Kingsgrove is a project like no other, individually it offers me the chance to widen my expertise in and outside of planning, whilst collectively Kingsgrove creates a place that people want to live, play and relax.
Andrea, Residential Portfolio Manager
I work on St. Modwen projects across the country alongside our managing agents and look after the operation of our management companies. Kingsgrove is one of my favourite sites, as I was involved in the early days when there were just a few homes. I was later moved on to other projects, but recently I had the opportunity to come back to this fantastic scheme again, working alongside such a talented project team. It was wonderful to see how the site has evolved, but more importantly to see how much the community has grown and bonded together. Seeing residents so passionate about the site is amazing; it’s now not just a site or a development, but a place residents call home. This thriving community has a great foundation to grow stronger and the opportunity to integrate further into the wider town of Wantage. I am so thrilled to be back supporting the team and the community.
Lisa, Project Manager
I’m proud to say I’m involved in the delivery of our wonderful community at Kingsgrove. My role as the development project manager encompasses all technical and commercial aspects of the master developer delivery which is often complex and involves a high degree of foresight. This is because it requires an understanding of the needs of all stakeholders (such as the various statutory authorities, landowners and our residents) – all of which have quite differing opinions on how the development should be built out, and I need be able to predict the consequences of any decisions that are taken, so all parties are kept comfortable over the delivery period and beyond.
We have a strong like-minded team which is made up of talented internal colleagues and external specialists and it’s inspiring to work alongside each of them to bring such a fantastic development and community to life at Kingsgrove.
Amy, Imogen and Jenny, Community Liaison Team
As the community liaison team at Kingsgrove, we work on behalf of St. Modwen and provide a point of contact for any queries the residents may have about the development. Other day-to-day activities for us include writing the community newsletter and articles, updating the query tracker on the website, and liaising with the brilliant resident reps. We love working in such a close-knit and supportive community with lots of lovely events and opportunities to meet and speak with the residents face-to-face.
Please contact us at community@kingsgrovewantage.co.uk if you would like to get in touch and share your experiences at Kingsgrove, and Happy International Women’s Day!