VIVO Defence Services southwest grounds’ maintenance team and its MOD colleagues have won an award for planting hundreds of trees at RAF St Mawgan.
The Facilities Management provider looks after maintenance on military bases across southwest and central England and was praised by base commanders for the part it has played with others at the Cornish air station on various sustainability initiatives.
This included VIVO’s Southwest Grounds Maintenance Manager Andrew Tregunna and its Arboricultural Specialist Gavin Aplin developing a proposal to plant over 300 mixed fruit trees at the base near Newquay.
Once this was approved by the Station Commander, the base’s Health, Safety and Environmental Adviser Sarah Kretowicz set about organising a station-wide community event to carry out the planting in four different locations.
To aid this, VIVO helped in the planning and securing of funds for the event before its grounds’ maintenance team pre-dug holes for the trees using a mini digger.
After this, volunteers from military families near the base and other armed forces personnel worked alongside the VIVO team to get all the trees planted during the event.
A further 200 mixed broad leaf trees were then planted as a shelter belt to protect one of the newly created orchards from the strong Atlantic winds.
Now, at a special ceremony held on 11 July this year, RAF commanders awarded a Special Air Environmental Award to the base’s Sarah Kretowicz and VIVO’s Andrew Tregunna for their hard work bringing about the tree planting initiative.
The two were given their awards in Commemoration of Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee through Project Delivery of The Queen’s Green Canopy initiative.
Wg Cdr Helen Simpson, the Station Commander, said: “I am very proud of the Station being recognised for its work in delivering the QGC planting honouring Her late Majesty’s reign and creating a living memorial.
2Much hard work was put into achieving this and to have our personnel and industry partners recognised by Air with a Special Air Environmental Award is incredible.
“The Platinum Orchard, as the planted areas are collectively known, will grow and produce fruit, giving our Wholeforce personnel and their families, who joined in with the planting initiative, a place to enjoy nature and the produce for many years to come.”
Andrew Tregunna, VIVO Defence Service’s Grounds’ Maintenance Manager, added: “I am really proud and pleased to have won this award alongside our MOD colleagues. My team are committed to championing and improving sustainability as part of our work looking after greenspaces on military bases, so this means a lot to us.”
VIVO Defence’s Operations Director Amanda Hill said: “Well done to Andrew, Sarah and everyone who worked together as such a great team. We at VIVO want to make sure that sustainability is front and centre of everything we do, and I am pleased that we worked so closely with the base and military families to bring about this great tree planting initiative.”
VIVO Defence Services works for the UK military and its partners on behalf of the Defence Infrastructure Organisation looking after facilities and asset management on the Built Estate – including grounds’ maintenance – on military bases across southwest and central England.
It also provides maintenance for Service Family Accommodation homes across the southwest and southeast, carries out Facilities Management services for Dstl as well as at 11 United States Visiting Forces sites and airbases across England.
In addition, VIVO – a joint venture between Serco and Equans – is currently mobilising to look after eight of the 13 UK regions of the Ministry of Defence’s Volunteer Estate – which provides sites for reservists and cadets – making it one of the largest providers of estate services to the UK military.
