Bridge works boost for Rochdale community groups

Repair work along the M62 at Rochdale, Greater Manchester, has provided a welcome boost for two community groups in the area.  

While National Highways is repairing Broad Lane bridge over the motorway between junction 20 and junction 21, staff from the project’s contractors have also been spending their own free time and volunteering days to provide a helping hand to a local families charity and food bank.

Concrete Repairs Limited (CRL), a specialist asset maintenance contractor, has been delivering repairs along the bridge since September. The bridge carries the B6194 local road over the motorway.  The repairs, which include new bridge joints and resurfacing along the bridge deck, as well as repairs to concrete facings and supports, are due to be completed in November. 

With staff working in the area for more than a year CRL staff were determined to provide a community legacy for the scheme – building an outdoor play area for charity Masking In The Middle and helping out at nearby Rochdale Foodbank two days a week.

The play area for Masking In The Middle has provided much-needed facilities and accessibility for neurodivergent children and their families – just in time for the long summer school holiday. The improvements involved CRL using their construction nous and not a little perspiration to help transform a piece of spare land next to a scout hut into a new rest area – as well as enhancing a play space, helping create a more inclusive setting for young people and their families to enjoy together.

In addition, CRL supported a local food bank operating every Wednesday and Friday, with volunteers assisting in the collection, sorting, and delivery of food parcels to vulnerable residents. 

National Highways project manager Yahaya Atolagbe said: 

“This is fairly long and very visible project and when we are working in an area, sometimes disrupting people’s journeys, we like to give something back

“CRL staff are to be congratulated for picking up the baton. As well as deploying their construction skills to help transform the play area they’ve been helping out at the foodbank to provide a vital service to disadvantaged local people.”

Adrian Pike, Global Framework Director at CRL, said: 

“This hands-on involvement helped strengthen community resilience while fostering meaningful relationships between the project team and local organisations - reflecting one of CRL’s core values to make a positive difference in the communities where we work.

"These activities demonstrate a commitment that extends beyond project delivery.  By investing time, skills, and support into local initiatives connected to the M62 Broad Lane scheme CRL aims to create a lasting social impact and leave a positive legacy for the people and communities linked to the project."

Irene Wilcox from Rochdale Foodbank said:

“Staff from CRL have been providing volunteers for the Rochdale Foodbank for the past seven months. This has been a great help to us as they have assisted us with sending drivers who also help with other aspects of the food distribution and collection. We are so grateful for their support – our thanks to all those involved.”

Vicki Frost from Masking In The Middle, said:

“Many of our children struggle in traditional environments due to sensory, social or emotional demands, so having outdoor space where they can regulate, run, explore, socialise naturally and simply “be” is incredibly important.

“Support from organisations like CRL means the world to us and helps make inclusion genuinely accessible for families who are often excluded from mainstream spaces. The garden space CRL created has given our families opportunities we simply did not have before. What may look like “just a garden” to some people has become a safe space full of laughter, friendships, confidence building and connection.”