Behind the scenes at new Wixams school sports site

Dozens of students from the local area enjoyed a sneak peek at a school’s new sports development near Bedford.

Three sessions were held at Wixams Academy by industry giants Willmott Dixon as part of Open Doors, an annual event where members of the public are invited to go behind the scenes at building sites across the country.

More than 25 people took the opportunity to have a look at the new sports hall, teaching block and all-weather pitch with Willmott Dixon senior operations manager Nick Claessen.

Nick said: “It’s always great to meet young people and potential career changers of all ages, and hopefully inspire them to pursue an exciting future in construction.

“We’re proud of our ongoing work at Wixams for Bedford Borough Council and we hope our visitors left feeling like this was something they would like to be a part of.

“When you’re involved in a great project like this, you are quite literally building a community. That’s what we’re all about, and we were proud to share that as part of Open Doors.”

Willmott Dixon originally built Wixams Academy that opened in 2017. It was built as the centrepiece of the huge Wixams community three miles south of Bedford, envisioned as a community for about 10,000 people – the largest development in Bedfordshire.

It is made up of a primary school, a nursery and a secondary academy, with a total of 1,244 student places.

Open Doors is an initiative from construction industry organisation Build UK, and featured more than 220 events across Britain. Participating projects ranged from individual houses to skyscrapers, with manufacturing facilities, offices and training centres also opening their doors to demonstrate their off-site roles across the sector.

For more information on Willmott Dixon, click here.