New friendships and wonderful opportunities

New friendships and wonderful opportunities

In September we completed three benches for St Edmund’s College at their brand new student accommodation, Mount Pleasant Halls, developed by Howard Osborne LLP. The benches were a gift to the college from Howard Osborne, as the result of a connection made between Richard Bell, Operations Manager, and his wife Debbie Collins. Debbie worked with Rowan as part of her PhD studies exploring the eyewitness skills of adults with learning disabilities. The research took place over a number of months and in this time Debbie and her daughter became well-known visitors at Rowan!
On completing her data collection, Debbie discussed with husband Richard how she might thank Rowan for their support. As an organisation Howard Osborne has a keen interest in supporting local community activities and charities and as such the seed of an idea was planted. Following discussions between Howard Osborne and St Edmunds, we were commissioned to design and produce three benches to be presented to the college on completion of the Mount Pleasant Halls development. 
The benches have been beautifully crafted in the shape of hornbeam leaves, a link to the natural landscape of the original site and to the landscaping of the new site, which, when planted in November this year, will also include hornbeam trees.  Made of oak for durability, the benches have been left unvarnished to allow the wood to develop a silvery finish over time. The painted metal frames add a contemporary feel to the overall finish.
It really goes to show how one friendship can lead to wonderful new opportunities!