Builders get to the bottom of men's health in Leighton Buzzard

Builders’ bums, hearts and tums were top of the agenda at Taylor Wimpey’s Heath Meadows development of new homes in Leighton Buzzard this week.

Site Manager Paul Archer arranged a special Men’s Health Awareness session for his 40-strong team – who are building a range of brand new three and four-bedroom homes at Heath Meadows – with local Macmillan nurse Michelle Good on hand to give sound advice on everything from giving up smoking and following a healthy diet to checking themselves thoroughly for any unusual lumps and bumps!

The hour-long session on Thursday [20th May] was put together by Paul as part of Taylor Wimpey’s Considerate Constructors Scheme, which goes beyond standard regulations to look after the health and welfare of all tradesmen and women working on the development of properties in Leighton Buzzard.

As well as raising the awareness of Paul’s workforce, the event helped to raise over £1,000 for Macmillan, with a substantial donation from Taylor Wimpey and generous pledges from contractors, site suppliers, and those attending the health-awareness session.

Paul, who started out in the construction industry as a bricklayer, says: “We are used to being very stringent on health and safety issues on site, but our builders are a hardworking bunch who tend to ignore their own health issues and think they can tough it out without seeing a doctor.

“The problem is, they may well end up ignoring the first signs of more serious illnesses, and not seek help until it’s too late.

“The nurses from Macmillan gave a good humoured yet hard-hitting talk on the importance of us checking ourselves for lumps that could be cancer, and about watching out for the signs of high blood pressure and heart disease, as well as things we can do to cut the risks of developing these problems.

“I’m fortunate that my team is generally a healthy bunch, but hopefully they’ve received reassurance about what they can do to stay that way!”

Paul and the Heath Meadows team have completed a number of homes, and showhomes which are open to visitors, and are now working on phase two of the development of new homes, Leighton Buzzard.

The showhomes, located off Churchill Road, are open Thursday to Sunday from 10am to 5.30pm and Monday 10am to 2pm.