Page 5 - W M Donald Newsletter - Edition Nine

Ballumbie Rise: from fairway to driveway.
Ballumbie Castle Golf Course, located to the North-East of Dundee, was founded in June 2000. To ensure the financial health of the course the club sold 11.5 hectares of land to Stewart Milne Homes who intend to build 190 homes on the site. Although the development, named ‘Ballumbie Rise’ intrudes on three of the existing fairways, the course will be re-engineered to ensure it retains 18 holes.
Ballumbie is not alone as a golf course in looking to housing development as a means of bolstering declining membership revenues. Although Scotland is often referred to as the ‘Home of Golf’, the number of Scottish golf club members has dropped by over 50,000 in the past decade and, in 2017 alone, 19 courses closed. The decline is attributed to a number of factors including competition from other participation sports such as cycling, an ageing demographic, the time needed to complete a round, and an enduring perception that clubs have yet to truly embrace sexual equality: only 13.5% of members are women. A 2018 YouGov poll in which 70% of respondents voted golf the ’dullest’ sport, pushing American Football into a distant second, highlights the marketing challenge facing the sport.
At Ballumbie, W M Donald will be undertaking the enabling works, including earthworks, adoptable sewers, roads and plot works. It is thought the development will be completed in 2022.
To find out more about the properties being built at Ballumbie Rise visit: https://www.stewartmilnehomes. com/new-homes/neighbourhoods/ballumbie-rise
Mental Health First Aid Training
The World Health Organisation defines health as:
‘...a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.’
According to the Lighthouse Club construction industry charity, every working day two UK construction workers take their own life; Health and Safety Executive statistics indicate that 20% of all cases of ill health in the sector stem from mental health issues; 400,000 work days a year are lost each year. Mental health is an important construction industry health issue.
One small step W M Donald has taken to address the mental health challenge is to embrace Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) training. Austen Brooks, Eilidh Cameron and Ian Gray are the first to have completed their MHFA training course.
The aim of the MHFA training is to give trainees the skills to implement the five step ALGEE approach to addressing mental health issues:
A -
L - G - E -
E -
Approach your colleague, assess and assist with any crisis
Listen and communicate non-judgementally Give support and information
Encourage your colleague to get appropriate professional help
Encourage self-help strategies
If you are struggling with mental health issues such as stress or suicidal thoughts you can speak to Austen, Ian or Eilidh. Alternatively, you can call the Construction Industry Helpline on 0345 605 1956.
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