Wilton CLT is pleased to introduce the ‘Our Wilton’ team – please see Sue Harper’s letter below.
We would like to introduce ourselves and give you an update on the Wilton Hill Veterans’ Project and the Enterprise Hub.
My name is Sue Harper, Operations Manager for Our Wilton, and Kerry Harvey works alongside me as my assistant – we are the Our Wilton team.
The development on the old Erskine Barracks, HQ Land Forces site, is a partnership between Our Enterprise (our parent company), Redrow Homes and the Wilton Community Land Trust. As part of the wider housing development, our intention is to build and manage a veterans’ campus, delivering a range of supported accommodation and opportunities to aid their transition to civilian life. We will also deliver a nursery facility, a community café, and an enterprise hub with facilities for business and enterprise, which will support veterans and the wider community. We are thoroughly enjoying engaging with the local community to forge relationships with businesses and individuals so that we may be able to offer our veterans the very best opportunities in training, work experience and apprenticeships so that they are able to integrate fully into civilian life, and to ensure that we provide the best service to the Wilton community.
We aim to break ground for the start of the veterans’ accommodation and community cafe in January, with our very first veterans able to move in by the end of 2017, and we have recently launched our fundraising campaign for Our Wilton Trust, a registered charity formed to deliver and maintain the veterans’ accommodation, provide training opportunities and support the wider community’s benefit. We are currently looking for ambassadors to spread the word about what we are doing and champion our cause, so if you or someone you know are interested please do get in contact – we would love to hear from you. The Enterprise Hub build will follow swiftly after.
We were thrilled to launch Wilton Welcomes with the Wilton and District Business Chamber in August; this is a fantastic initiative that will benefit the wider business community as well as our serving and veteran community. We look forward to engaging in more projects that involve the whole Wilton community.
By the time you read this we will be in the midst of our ‘Our Wilton, Our Christmas’. Please look out around town for places where you can donate £1.50 and we will tie an Our Wilton ribbon to the HQ Land Forces gates on Wilton Hill – let’s turn them green and raise money for the build and maintenance of the Veterans’ accommodation. We will also have packs of Christmas cards available for sale. These are packs of 12 cards featuring six Wylye valley winter images, which we are selling in association with local business Simply Bluebell, with over 70% of the sale price going straight to Our Wilton Trust.
Our office is now located on site, just inside the HQ Land Forces gates, if you would like to talk with us about the project or visit the site please email admin@ourwilton.org and we can arrange a suitable time.
Best wishes,
Sue Harper