Deeside Upside Jan-Feb 24

UPSIDE

DEESIDE

JAN-FEB 2024

Hello 2024!

It seems like it was only yesterday that we were getting ready for our festive break and tidying away 2023, but here we are already, back for a fresh new year.

Question time...What does Francis do in hisr spare time?

A. Axe Throwing B. Bowling C. HEMA

WHAT’S HERE 03.

FRANCI MCINRUE

05.

DTL CHARITY

07.

LEAP YEAR

04.

PROCORE

06.

366 DAYS

08.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

10.

OYLMPICS

12.

MATES IN MIND

15.

11.

MOVEMBER

14.

BENEFITS

BRAIN TEASER

17.

18.

19.

LOCAL

YOUR SAY

Table of Contents

NEWS

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FRANCIS MCINRUE Well done if you choose C. on the front page. C was an abbreviation for Historical European Martial Arts, as you will read below. Thanks to Francis for telling us about his hobby and the photo where he is teaching a rapier class.

I joined Aberdeen Swordsmanship Group in 2014 and we train at Blairs College twice weekly. The club teaches and practices HEMA, Historical European Martial Arts, we are primarily a long sword club studying manuscripts written at the turn of the 15th century by an Italian Master Of Arms, named Fiore Dei Liberi. I have been an instructor at the club for four years now and I am the lead instructor of Italian Rapier teaching from manuscripts by Nicoletto Giganti and these were written 1606-1608.

I discovered the club when I moved to Aberdeen, looking for interests outside of work. As a bit of a history buff and previous experience of sports fencing and eastern martial arts, it was a perfect fit for me. We teach a variety of disciplines including longsword, rapier, small sword, sabre, and the pole-axe classes are interesting. It’s a great way to keep fit as I am not the gym type. We do need to wear some hefty padding, depending on what we are doing, as injuries can/do occur.

HEMA

3

SURVEYING GREAT REVIEWS Contracts have invested in Procore construction software.

The platform connects every project contributor with DTL. The centralised dashboard allows managers to handle project details, schedule tasks, and view progress.

“It's easy to retrieve new documents added in Procore and it's easy to submit documents too. It's very user friendly and you can find what you're looking for easily compared to other similar applications. “ - Reviewer

PROCORE

Some benefits of this software are:

Procore

Communication Mobile collaboration tools are built for the field, making it easy for everyone to have a clear understanding of what needs to get done every day to stay on schedule and prevent rework.

Efficiently capture and manage all project correspondence Access for everyone involved so no one is left out of the loop Keep information accurate Trust that all stakeholders have access to the latest information in a centralised location, and in a format that everyone can understand.

Information is updated instantly so nothing is missed Information logs give the whole story of the project Stay ahead of your projects Quickly identify potential issues and their impact to schedule and budgets. Avoid unwanted surprises with better project visibility.

Project overview gives a complete picture of any outstanding items Track all steps and speed up the approval process

4

DTL CHARITY & EVENTS TEAM We welcome having our own DTL charity and events team.

Lisa Milne who works in the procurement department, along with Alisdair Robertson, in design and finally, Harry Tremain, a fellow of many hats at Deeside being not only an Estimator but also a Mate in Mind champion are our brilliant team.

Any charity sponsorship requests, ideas or DTL events will be put to these great minds in the first instance via the suggestions email and they will help with approval, organise and planning.

Harry took part in a 10k run, Ali has been involved in golfing events and Lisa has organised many of the events happening in DTL such as lunches and Christmas activities.

This is an extra in their job roles so we appreciate them for giving their time.

OurTeamwork

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2024 366 DAYS Leap days are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth's revolutions around the Sun. It takes the Earth approximately 365.242189 days – or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds – to circle once around the Sun. This is called a tropical year.

Without an extra, or intercalary day on February 29 nearly every four years, we would lose almost six hours every year. After only 100 years, a calendar without leap years would be off by approximately 24 days. Seasonal days such as the vernal equinox or the wintee solstice would, therefore, shift in relation to the months in the calendar.

However, adding a leap day every four years was too often and eventually, in 1582, Pope Gregory XIII introduced the Gregorian Calendar. This calendar, which we still use today, has a more precise formula for calculation of leap years, also known as bissextile years.

Traditions & Folklore Leap day as a concept has existed for more than 2000 years and it is still associated with age-old customs, folklore, and superstition. According to an old Irish legend, or possibly history, St Brigid struck a deal with St Patrick to allow women to propose to men – and not just the other way around – every four years.

366 Days

6

LEAP YEAR What Is a Leap Year?

We use leap years to keep our calendars in sync with the seasons.

Leap years are years where an extra day is added to the end of the shortest month, February. This so-called intercalary day, February 29, is commonly referred to as leap day.

Leap years have 366 days instead of the usual 365 days and occur almost every four years.

Leap days are needed to keep our calendar in alignment with the Earth's revolutions around the Sun. It takes the Earth approximately 365.242189 days – or 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 45 seconds – to circle once around the Sun. This is called a tropical year.

Without an extra, or intercalary day on February 29 nearly every four years, we would lose almost six hours every year. After only 100 years, a calendar without leap years would be off by approximately 24 days.

Leap Year

7

PROJECT

OVERVIEW CAPSTONE CASTLEPARK, DINGWALL OBJECTIVE Albyn Housing Society put out to tender a £5.1m contract to meet the demand for affordable housing in the Highlands, with 30 of the 37 homes available for social renting from Albyn Housing Society.

Lisa Buchanan, chief executive of Albyn, said: “We remain committed to bringing affordable, quality homes to the people of the Highlands and our proposed new site at Dingwall will help us deliver on that commitment.

The contract was won by Capstone Construction, an Inverness firm delivering over a variety of sectors.

Capstone put out to tender new housing at Castlepark, Dingwall. The project was for the construction of 37 new homes compromising of: Terraced Villas Semi-Detached Villas Semi-Detached Bungalows Detached Villa Semi-Detached Bungalows Terraced Bungalows The new homes include, 19 for social rent (1 for wheelchair user), 7 New Supply Shared Equity and 11 'Fit Homes' for social rent.

Mark Crawford passed through the tender for our estimating department to put together a tender proposal for the client.

Capstone were impressed with the figures and the tender was won.

Our Wins

8

CAPSTONE CASTLEPARK, DINGWALL RESULTS The site looks great and benefits locals.

It has good access to local facilities such as schools and public transport, and in close proximity to recreation space with open countryside and forest walks through the adjacent woods.

KIT

Mark Crawford Business Development Manager

Our Wins

Standard CLS Kit with 140mm Insulation, PIR Over Studs, Battens and Plasterboard giving the U Value required Slate Roof with two Mock Chimneys Side Dining Room with feature slopping ceiling with two Velux and large sliding patio doors French Doors either side of the stove which gives a nice feature in the Lounge All windows and doors were Grey / White UPVC with Georgian Bar square detail as required by Planning The long feature window in the master bedroom is another nice feature which has an excellent view out over the fields Internal Doors were the lined Suffolk pre-finished Oak with one glazed to the Lounge Standard skirting and facings in MDF The stair was supplied in Oak as a feature to compliment large window on the landing All windows cills and aprons were also supplied on Oak

9

THIS YEAR

OLYMPICS

PARIS 2024 2 6 J U L Y - 1 1 A U G U S T 285 DAYS FRANCE THE VISION The vision of Paris 2024 Paris 2024 will see a new vision of Olympism in action, delivered in a unique spirit of international celebration.

They will offer one of the world’s most inspirational cities as a memorable stage for the athletes – and a truly global platform to promote them, and their incredible stories. And they will partner with the entire Olympic family to demonstrate that, more than ever after an extremely challenging period, sport has a unique power to help create a better world.

Their plan features 95 percent existing or temporary venues, and every single one has a clear, defined legacy aligned with the city’s long-term development plans.

The sporting celebration will flow along the Seine, from the new Olympic Village, just 15 minutes from Paris city centre, to such city centre landmarks as the Eiffel Tower and the Grand Palais.

With the Olymipcs being on this year, it may inspire you to take up some kind of sports, maybe even just some lunchtime walking!

Fingers crossed for Team GB. Sweepstake anyone?

Olympics

10

MOVEMBER ‘23 THE DTL TEAM RAISED £175

NEW YEAR PRESSURE New Year. To some it represents a fresh start, renewed motivation and resolutions, but for others it just presents a lot of stressful expectations, painful reflection and anxiety. January 1st is just another day, but with it comes the expectation that we will improve, do more, achieve higher and generally be better. Some people can become very aware of their lows of the previous year, and feel a great weight to be successful.

New Year can be a testing time for many people, but when you suffer from a mental illness it can be a reminder of how motivating yourself and being positive is a struggle. It can be a reminder of the future, when your mental illness makes the future seem scary. With a mental illness it can be even easier at New Year to be hard on yourself and place more pressure on yourself.

Some tips reduce New Year’s stress and pressure: Try not to compare yourself to others – “comparison is the thief of joy”, we all have such different journeys, different strengths weaknesses and struggles, if we get lost in comparisons we lose our own authenticity.

Minimise social media use – seeing everyone’s highlight reel when you are struggling can make you feel very low and unsuccessful. Instead of scrolling, maybe read a book, go for a walk or spend time doing something that will benefit you somehow.

Create your own small achievable goals – even if it’s just a goal to get out of bed and have a shower, it feels good to achieve something you set out to do, especially at your own pace.

Make a list of all the positive things from the previous year – sometimes we get so caught up in negativity we can forget that there is always something to be positive about. Or list things that you are grateful for, things even as simple as the roof over your head or the chair you sit on.

Mates in Mind

12

HARRY

EMMA

LAWRENCE

harry.tremain@deesidetimberf rame.com

emma.geddes@deesidetimber frame.com

lawrence.mchale@deesidetimb erframe.com

2411

2416

1266

Estimator in Stonehaven

Design Office Stonehaven

Throsk

HERE FOR YOU Please do contact any one of the people here if you would like to reach out and chat. All have been trained and are happy to listen or direct you to others that may be able to assist more.

ALAN

STEVEN

alan.kammer@deesidetimberf rame.com

steven.murray@deesidetimber frame.com

1232

2417

Stonehaven

Stonehaven & Throsk

Mental Health Buddies

We already see that chatting helps and whether it is a walk and talk, call or email there is always someone at Deeside that would be a buddy to you. Just reach out.

13

BENEFITS

HEALTH ASSURED Why not have a look at the Health Assured website to pick up some useful tips for your wellbeing.

Website - HealthAssuredEap.co.uk Username - Bancon Group Password - EAP In this portal you’ll find a wealth of information, tools and tips to help you improve your mental and physical wellbeing.

Life Support - An extensive library of resources on a variety of subjects.

Work Life - We spend a lot of time at work, so any issues can impact our physical, emotional and mental health.

Physical Health - Looking after your physical health can reduce the risk of future ill-health, boost your self-esteem, mood and overall wellbeing Emotional Health - Protecting our emotional health is just as important as caring for our physical health.

Wellbeing Resources - A range of resources to help you to manage your wellbeing.

Benefits

14

COMPETITION BRAIN TEASER ANSWERS NOV-DEC

Thank you for participating. The winner with the most correct answers was Kevin Riddell. Well done!

Why not have a go at the next brain teaser and see if you can win yourself £10?

Game for it

15

COMPETITION BRAIN TEASER

Submit a correct entry & get a chance to win a £10 voucher.

One entry per newsletter.

All correct entries, names will be put in a online random generator.

Closes 29/02/24

Game for it

Click here to email your answers. Good Luck!

16

LATEST NEWS

LATEST NEWS DTL Website Our new website went live on 29/11/23 and it is looking fresh and user friendly.

Although we are part of the Bancon Group and ‘One Team’, DTL has it’s own identity within the construction sector and the new website highlights the dedication to future proof and develop with excellence the presence of DTL in the industry.

We are proud to have a great team of colleagues with skill sets that can set us apart from our competitors.

News

17

FOUNTAIN HALL WINES

SOFA SOY CANDLE CO

PICOS

https://fountainhallwines.co.uk

https://www.sofasoycandles.co m/shop/

https://m.facebook.com/profile. php?id=100093481793163

01569 763399

01569 762444

07725616270

6 Market Square, Stonehaven, AB39 2BT

12 Evan St, Stonehaven AB39 2EQ

8 Arbuthnott Place, Stonehaven AB39 2JA

LOCAL BUSINESS Small-business owners love what they do, and they play an important role in supporting their local communities. From providing a hometown feel for localities to working hard to know their neighbors, these small companies do a lot to help others who live nearby in many different ways.

THE FURNITURE LODGE

LOU SELLS

Facebook

https://lousells.co.uk/

01569 547147

07572 793872

12 Cowie Lane Stonehaven

21 Market Square, Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, AB39 2BE

Support Local

When it comes to showing your support for small businesses, it’s important to do so, and not just to help them gain revenue and stay operational.

Everything from the local clothing boutique to the corner cupcake bakery relies on the support of loyal customers to keep its doors open, and when you spend money at a small business, you’ll gain plenty of wonderful benefits as well.

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YOUR VIEWS Let us know what you’d like to see in the magazine.

If you want to get accross a view point or have any thoughts about working at DTL that you would like us to hear, please email. This email address only has one person accessing it so please feel confident that if you wish to be confidential then it can be treated as such Please do use the suggestions email for any of the Charity & Events group communications too.

SUGGESTIONS EMAIL BELOW suggestions@deesidetimberframe.com

Suggestions

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