TEP Sponsorship Update: PLACED Academy

TEP Sponsorship Update: PLACED Academy

TEP Sponsorship Update: PLACED Academy
September 9, 2022

In summer of this year, The PLACED Academy opened its doors to its fifth annual cohort of summer school attendees. Sponsored by a number of consultancies and organisations, including TEP, PLACED offers a free-to-access innovative programme for 14-18 year olds across the northwest of England, and provides an introduction into a career in the built environment. The programme is designed to encourage creativity, increase self-esteem and develop a broad range of interpersonal skills. The content of the course centres around the built and natural environment, and how design and management can positively respond to the effects of climate change.

PLACED runs from July to the following May and comprises both online and face to face workshops, site visits, model-making and youth led engagements. It also gives the young attendees the chance to work alongside professionals such as architects, town planners and TEP’s very own landscape and urban designer Tim Johns, who volunteers at the academy.

This July, 36 young people from diverse backgrounds throughout the  north west arrived at the University of Liverpool School of Management to partake in a four-day programme during which the attendees were tasked with designing a unique neighbourhood for one of six sites across the region.

Working in groups and mentored by volunteering professionals, the cohort discussed and developed designs inspired by the Liverpool City Region’s Spatial Development Strategy (SDS). This strategy effectively lays out a blueprint for the region, detailing policies for use of land and adopting sustainable placemaking principles to ensure developments are connected and coherent, and prioritise the interests, desires and needs of the local community. Particular focus was given to the concept of the ‘15-minute neighbourhood’ model, which focusses on pedestrian accessibility from homes to nearby services and green spaces. The young cohort were particularly passionate about the impact developments would have on the environment and were keen to discuss and promote the use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and water.

The summer school culminated in a celebratory exhibit of final designs and a graduation ceremony, attended by proud parents, care-givers and Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram. Feedback from the attendees was overwhelmingly positive, with the vast majority stating that they had gained a good understanding about built environment careers and prospective career paths, that they felt proud of what they had achieved, and had thoroughly enjoyed meeting new people and making new friends.

For more information about The Placed Academy’s future programmes, please visit https://placed-academy.com.

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Built in 1873 as part of the former Whittingham Asylum, the Grade II listed Church of St John has stood within the Whittingham landscape for more than 150 years. Designed by Manchester architect Henry Littler, the church remained in use until the hospital closed in 1995. Today, its significance lies not only in its architecture and historic associations, but in the surviving details that tell the story of the building, from stencilled decoration and high-quality timberwork to its distinctive cast-iron columns. To help inform the church’s future management, TEP’s Historic Environment and Archaeology team was commissioned to prepare a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for Homes England. The work began with understanding what makes the building significant. An onsite appraisal and condition review were combined with an assessment of its heritage significance, including the contribution made by its setting. This allowed the team to identify important surviving features and consider the issues affecting the building before translating that evidence into practical principles for its ongoing management. 
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Growing People CIC at Lanjeth Nursery received a TEP Environment Grant to help improve access to the organisation's restored pond habitats in Cornwall.
October 30, 2026
Built in 1873 as part of the former Whittingham Asylum, the Grade II listed Church of St John has stood within the Whittingham landscape for more than 150 years. Designed by Manchester architect Henry Littler, the church remained in use until the hospital closed in 1995. Today, its significance lies not only in its architecture and historic associations, but in the surviving details that tell the story of the building, from stencilled decoration and high-quality timberwork to its distinctive cast-iron columns. To help inform the church’s future management, TEP’s Historic Environment and Archaeology team was commissioned to prepare a Conservation Management Plan (CMP) for Homes England. The work began with understanding what makes the building significant. An onsite appraisal and condition review were combined with an assessment of its heritage significance, including the contribution made by its setting. This allowed the team to identify important surviving features and consider the issues affecting the building before translating that evidence into practical principles for its ongoing management. 
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Growing People CIC at Lanjeth Nursery received a TEP Environment Grant to help improve access to the organisation's restored pond habitats in Cornwall.
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TEP's Environment Grant was established to support projects that inspire environmental learning, raise awareness of environmental issues and encourage positive action. Since launching in 2020, the grant has supported 17 projects across the UK, helping individuals, community groups and organisations bring environmental ideas to life. Now in its seventh year, the grant received a record 102 applications from across the UK. Following a detailed review process, funding has been awarded to two projects that stood out for their innovative approaches to community engagement, environmental awareness and learning.