We want to inform you that our construction team will be working extended hours overnight due to the upcoming high temperatures forecast.

The team will be working extended hours on two specific dates to carry out two long concrete pours. This is to avoid potential problems such as cracking in a key area of the new Velindre Cancer Centre site.

The construction team will ensure that any noise and disruption is minimised during the overnight works. 

The scheduled dates, with the possibility of minor adjustments due to unforeseen circumstances, are:
- Monday, June 16 (6pm - 8am)
- Monday, June 23 (6pm - 8am)
 
Please keep in mind that these times are approximate and may vary based on ambient and concrete temperature.

If you have any queries, please contact:
During working hours (8am-5pm):  Katie Hathaway, khathaway@sacyr.com - 07763 203360
Post working hours: Site mobile phone - 033 03414863

We apologise for any disruption this may cause and appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this time.

Thank you for your patience.

We want to inform community residents that our construction team will be working extended hours from 6pm to 8pm Monday to Thursday during the month of June.  

The extended working hours have been consented for a list of activities that we do not expect to make significant noise, focused on preparatory works mainly.

We apologise for any disruption this may cause and appreciate your understanding and co-operation during this time.

Thank you for your patience. If you have any questions, please contact us on 0330 341 4863.
 

Acorn, the consortium behind the new Velindre Cancer development scooped the Best Healthcare Project Award at the Public Private Partnership (PPP) awards at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in May.

The PPP Awards take place each year and are a vital platform for both the public and private sector to be recognised for innovative and transformative work being carried out.

The judges found that team demonstrated how the new Velindre Cancer Centre (nVCC) is being built sustainably to provide cutting edge treatment at the new facility, by using sustainable materials, inclusion of the local community as well as a promise to protect the environment.

The nVCC will be the first significant Welsh investment aimed at supporting the government’s zero-carbon targets and will be the UK’s first fully electric health centre.

Jorge Beceiro Castresana, General Manager at nVCC, said of the awards ceremony held in London: “It was such an honour as we shared the stage with so many incredible people, all of whom have been instrumental in the success of this project.

“We are delighted to win such a prestigious award and it’s great to see our work being recognised especially after such a short amount of time. To build our name in just a year and go up against other global nominees is a huge testament to the passion and commitment shown by our team. The recognition of winning this award only fuels our determination to continue delivering excellence in all that we do for Velindre.

Maria Ortega Carreras, Project Director added: “Sacyr UK would like to say a massive thank you to all our staff and every person involved who has been there to support us along the way. The dedication and hard work that each person has shown has not gone unnoticed and without you, we would not have been able to achieve this wonderful milestone.”

The new Velindre Cancer Centre is one of the biggest projects Wales has seen in decades and is scheduled to open in Spring 2027.

You can read more about the awards here: https://www.partnershipsawards.com/finalists/new-velindre-cancer-centre-mim-project-1d1 

April was a busy month for Sacyr UK, the contractor behind the new Velindre Cancer Centre (nVCC), as staff engaged with schools throughout Cardiff and Newport, offering career guidance, support, and workshops to students of all ages.

At the start of the month, Sacyr UK attended Newport Youth Academy to begin a series of presentations to students who are at high risk of being classified as NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training). The Academy provides tailored support and guidance to help individuals achieve positive outcomes - whether that's enrolling in a college course, completing targeted training, or securing employment. Sacyr UK’s Community Benefits Coordinator Joanne delivered a workshop to 15 students focused on interview preparation, offering practical tips and outlining key dos and don’ts. In the coming months, Sacyr UK will return to the Academy to deliver a follow-up presentation and a session on networking skills.

Joanne also took part in careers fairs at Cardiff and Vale College and Cantonian High School, speaking to students on Construction and Built Environment pathway courses, as well as offering advice on general construction roles and apprenticeship routes into the industry. The events gave students a valuable opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the specific opportunities available through the nVCC project.

They also visited Fitzalan High School as part of an event organised by Working Options, an organisation which provides career opportunities and educational guidance to 14–19-year-olds across England and Wales. Over 130 GCSE pupils from the school participated in three different sessions to learn more about the importance of teamwork and problem solving as well as fun challenges which involved building tetrahedrons out of dowel rods and elastic bands.

Finally, in what was a very busy month, Sacyr UK also attended an exciting ‘Lego League’ competition help at Ysgol Groeswen primary school in St Fagans, where year 6 pupils worked together in teams to partake in a challenging Lego-based STEM task involving robot programming, coding, constructing and a whole lot of Lego! Members of the Project team were there to help and support the pupils during their tests and had the difficult job of picking a winner! The pupils really impressed and delivered fantastic presentations outlining their robot designs, discussing how they worked together to build them and talking through any issues they had overcome along the way.

Maria Ortega Carreras, Project Director at nVCC, said: “It’s great to get so many pupils and students involved in these events as they take the first steps in their career after education. It’s important for them to see the opportunities available to them as well as the opportunities the nVCC project can provide them with.”

“This is an exciting time for the next generation of young adults in the area and we are here to support and guide them with their next steps, whether that be a specific career the nVCC can provide for them or those who take up other opportunities in the construction sector.”

Sacyr UK, the contractor building the new Velindre Cancer Centre (nVCC), introduced its new Community Platform to staff from Y Deryn family of schools to show them how it could help their students.

More than 50 teachers and staff from the Y Deryn family of schools, which is based in Leckwith, Mynachdy and University Hospital of Wales, Heath caters for students of all ages from Reception to Year 12. Staff were shown a presentation at Nyth Y Deryn, Mynachdy on March 6th showcasing Sacyr UK’s commitment to community engagement, education and collaboration.

Sacyr UK staff provided support and shared knowledge on how the platform works, what is on offer, and how it can be used as an educational enrichment tool for the students at, where tutorials and sections of the platform can be cherry-picked to suit the needs of each student. Isabel who works at Coed y Deryn based within Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospital of Wales of is one of the first teachers piloting the platform supporting young patients with their learning journey away from a traditional education setting.

The platform was created to offer services, collaborations and tools to help the local community who are based around the new Velindre Cancer Centre, as well as the wider south Wales region. It is available to anyone aged 14 and over to provides a space where people can do everything from build their CV and access job boards, to offering tutorials across a range of subjects including science, engineering, mathematics and technology.

Katie Hathaway, Sacyr’s UK stakeholder engagement and community benefits manager at nVCC, said: “It’s always great to share what our new platform can achieve and demonstrate how it provides so many opportunities and benefits to the local community. The resources available on our platform are easily accessible and it was great to see how eager the teachers and staff at Y Deryn were to learn more about how it can be used at their school. Special thanks to Isabel who has been shaping the modules to support patients and its lovely to hear parents are getting involved too!

“Going forward, one of Sacyr’s main aims is that all schools in the region will have access to our platform which can provide pupils with significant educational resources.”

Katie added: “We’re really looking forward to seeing how many success stories will be created by the new platform, which will allow pupils to develop their skills, widen their network, as well as offer them access to new career and volunteering opportunities.”

Rachel Mann, Deputy Headteacher for Y Deryn Family of schools added, ‘Working with Katie and the Sacyr team is always a rewarding experience. The chance to create meaningful opportunities for our learners is incredibly exciting. We look forward to

exploring even more opportunities for our local cohort and witnessing the developments first hand. It's inspiring to see learners engaging with real-world, contextual learning through the new platform. We're excited to continue collaborating with our local partners, Sacyr on this journey.’

New Velindre Cancer Centre - Summary Monitoring Report - April 2025

In the first two months since the launch of the Acorn/Sacyr UK’s online Community Platform, more than 61 hours of e-learning has been completed. 

The online platform, which was launched in February by local Senedd Member Julie Morgan MS, was designed to make social value and working within the south Wales community more collaborative. It also aims to help join businesses with local community groups, forging new volunteering and charitable opportunities.

As well as this, it has an online forum, but it’s much more than that - it is also a place where people can build their CV and access job boards. And it already has one success story, as it helped 18 year old Ben Shears get his first step on the career ladder. He created his CV on the platform and successfully applied for an apprenticeship role advertised on the platform’s job board. 

The platform additionally offers online science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) tutorials for secondary school age children, allows local people to get access to a Tool Library and video lessons on how to use the tools they borrow.

Joanne Okeefe, Sacyr UK’s Community Benefits Coordinator and, said: “It is great to see that the platform is already been used extensively by so many people in the community. We were so pleased to see how many hours of e-learning had been accessed and completed just a few weeks after we launched the platform.
  
“We are really proud of what we have built with the platform and believe it is one of the first that has been created by a construction company to help facilitate collaborative social value. It has so many uses and many resources, it really is a place that you can easily spend a few hours and learn everything from how to use a power tool, to how to give back to your local community by volunteering. There aren’t many one stop websites like this available, and so we’re proud to have created one for the south Wales community in which we work in.”

To access the Acorn community platform, visit: https://acorn-sacyr.dreams-lms.org/rcd/login.php 

We want to let you know that our construction team will be working extended hours on Wednesday 4th June.

This is so the team can carry out the necessary power floating of a slab after a concrete pour. We expect minimal disruption and appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this time.

Normal working hours are 8am to 6pm. The extension is for working after 6pm and the duration of the works will be weather dependant.  However, there should be a minimal amount of noise. 

Thank you for your patience. If you have any questions, please contact us on 0330 341 4863.
 

Watch last month's construction progress!

We want to let you know that our construction team will be working extended hours overnight on Wednesday May 28.

This is so the team can carry out the necessary power floating of a slab after a concrete pour. We expect minimal disruption and appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this time.

Normal working hours are 8am to 6pm. The extension is for working after 6pm and the duration of the works will be weather dependant. However, there should be a minimal amount of noise. 

Thank you for your patience. If you have any questions, please contact us on 07763 203360.

We want to inform community residents that our construction team will be working extended hours from 6pm to 8pm, Monday to Thursday and 1pm to 2pm on Saturdays, during the rest of the month of May.
The extended working hours have been consented for a list of activities that we do not expect to create significant noise, focused on preparatory works mainly. 
We apologize for any disruption this may cause and appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this time.
Thank you for your patience.
 

New Velindre Cancer Centre - Summary Monitoring Report - March 2025

Watch last month's construction progress!

Please be advised that the concrete works scheduled for tonight have been postponed and will now take place tomorrow night (7 May 6pm to 8am). This decision was made to ensure that all preparatory works are completed to provide optimal workability, placement, and curing conditions.
As per our communications last week, these schedules could be subject to change and we thank you for your understanding and cooperation. 
 

We want to express our gratitude for your patience this week during the overnight concrete pouring, necessary due to the high temperatures. Your understanding and support as we construct the new Velindre Cancer Centre are greatly appreciated.
 
We also extend our sincere thanks to the hardworking team for their dedication and commitment to managing such challenging concrete pours.
 
In appreciation of your understanding, we have decided not to work extended hours tomorrow and will finish construction works at 1pm. No works will take place from 1pm tomorrow (Saturday May 3) until Tuesday, May 6 at 8am. 

We sincerely apologise for the disruption caused by the construction works last night (April 28/29) including disturbance caused by a loud horn. 
We understand that the works had a significant impact on nearby residents, and we deeply regret any inconvenience caused. 

We had intended to share an update on the website ahead of the works but due to technical difficulties we were unable to access the website. We acknowledge that the use of the loud horn was a disturbance to the community, and have advised the Construction team accordingly. 

Moving forward, the Construction team will endeavour to use an alternative method to ensure communication during night minimise noise and disruption to residents.
 
Additionally, we would like to clarify that the late-night works were necessary due to abnormally high temperatures, which made it essential to pour concrete during specific hours to avoid potential problems such as cracking. 

We wanted to let you know that our construction team will be working extended hours on specific occasions during the next two weeks.
The current scheduled dates, with the possibility of minor adjustments due to unforeseen circumstances, are: 
 
- Wednesday, April 30th, 2025 (06pm - 08am)
- Thursday, May 1st, 2025 (06pm - 04am)
- Tuesday, May 6th, 2025 (06pm - 08am)
 
*Please keep in mind that these times are approximate and may vary based on ambient and concrete temperature.
 
These works have been approved under item 5 of the granted consent Section 61. Please click here to see the up to date Section 61 document.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and we greatly appreciate your understanding and cooperation during this period.
 
We value our relationship with the local community and will strive to do better in the future. 
In the interim, please contact Katie Hathaway on khathaway@sacyr.com. 

Should any issues arise during the night, please contact:
Project Manager Hugo Pou Lopez – 07902 159903
Works Manager Antonio Gomez Alonso – 07860 378661

Sacyr UK, the contractor building the new Velindre Cancer Centre (nVCC), has shared its first employability success story since its new online community platform was launched, helping a local man get his first step on the career ladder. 

Ben Shears, aged 19 from Fairwater, Cardiff, started his job as an electrical apprentice for Wysepower having applied for the job via the Sacyr UK platform. The platform, which helps create social value as well as work more collaboratively with the local community in and around nVCC, is available to anyone aged 14 and over and provides a space where people can do everything from build their CV and access job boards, to offering tutorials across a range of subjects in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. 

Wysepower is the UK’s top provider of sustainable and high-quality temporary site services and during his apprenticeship Ben will attend Cardiff and Vale College one day a week and during the other four days he will gain lots of hands-on experience, on site, whilst being mentored by qualified electricians to help develop his practical skills. 

On his new appointment, Ben said: “I’m looking forward to starting my new job as an electrical apprentice at WysePower and am ready to learn lots of new skills which will help me build my career for the future.

“I’m grateful to Sacyr UK for its platform which allowed me to apply for this job and believe it is a really positive initiative for other local people looking to develop their career.”

Tony Crook, Wysepower’s South West England and South Wales Manager, said “Ben is the second apprentice Wysepower have taken on from the Cardiff region this year. Both our apprentices have been found through Sacyr UK community engagement initiatives and we are very grateful to be involved in a project with such a unique and forward thinking team”.

Katie Hathaway, Sacyr’s UK stakeholder engagement and community benefits manager at nVCC, said: “It’s wonderful to see our community platform is already making a tangible difference following Wysepower’s appointment of Ben. We hope to see lots more stories like this and we’re looking forward to more people making the most of our platform to help them gain new opportunities and skills.

“We will also be looking to develop the platform further as more people use it and hope it will continue to bring a great range of benefits to our local community and in the wider South Wales area.”

Staff from Sacyr UK, the contractor building the new Velindre Cancer Centre (nVCC), were visited by Lighthouse, the Construction Charity to help raise awareness of the services available to them should they need it. 

Lighthouse is a charity that provides emotional, physical and financial wellbeing support to those in the construction industry, as well as their families. Construction is recognised as one of the UK’s industries that has one of the highest rates of suicide, with statistics showing that every working day in the UK at least two construction workers take their own lives. Also stress, depression or anxiety accounts for 20% of all work-related illness in the construction industry. 

That’s why Sacyr UK invited Ceryn Turner, Partnership Manager of the Lighthouse Charity for Wales and the South West, to visit the nVCC site. She chatted to the site team about the work Lighthouse does and about the 24/7 helpline it provides, which offers help and advice on wellbeing issues from mental health to financial support, as well as a ‘Self Support App’ for construction workers to have easy access to expert advice.

Gordon Emerson, Sacyr UK’s Health and Safety Manager at nVCC, said: “We are extremely grateful to receive a visit from the Lighthouse to chat through the shocking statistics about our industry and tell them about their charitable support and services. 

“It’s important that our employees are well looked after, both physically and mentally, and are aware of the services available to them should they be struggling with their emotional, physical, or financial wellbeing.” 

Ceryn Turner, Partnership Manager of the Lighthouse charity in Wales and the South West, said: “It was great to meet so many of the site team at nVCC and talk them through the issues we are seeing in the industry, as well as chatting to them about anything they are concerned about. 

“As a charity, it is great that contractors like Sacyr UK offer time for site workers to come and chat to us so we can let them know that there is immediate help available should they need it. We are just a phone call or a click away and here to help as much as we can.”

For more information about Lighthouse, visit: https://www.lighthouseclub.org/free-24-7-support/.”

When it comes to diversity at the new Velindre Cancer Centre project, the team is a living example of what can be achieved, bucking national trends across the board.

Thirty percent of the project management team are female - double the national average of other construction projects. 

Five percent of the site team, those working on actually building the nVCC, are female – while the national average for construction projects is 1%. 

We also have a very diverse age range working on site here in Whitchurch, with people from four generations working on site and in our offices. 

There are also 12 different nationalities working on the project, from as far afield as Philippines and Columbia to those people who live just a few miles away. 

And these are just our statistics for people who work directly for Sacyr UK, the main contractor that is building the Centre, and Acorn, the consortium that has financially backed the project. It does not include any of the hundreds of people who work for the tens of sub-contractor companies who are also employed on the project. 

Katie Hathaway, Sacyr UK’s stakeholder engagement and community benefits manager at nVCC, said: “It is great to see our diversity policy in action here at the new Velindre Cance Centre. We actively encourage people from all backgrounds and ages to come and work for us as a diverse workforce, as doing so boosts our innovation and attracts new talent into our industry. 

“We have recently spoken about one of our sub-contractors’ crane operators, Barry who is now 73 and still working here on site. The experience and knowledge he brings to the project, as well as to his colleagues at MPS is second to none.”

Katie added: “Many people believe that initiatives such as Women in Construction Week aren’t worth promoting, but here at Sacyr UK and the nVCC we are feeling the benefits of having a diverse workforce every day and long may it continue.”
 

Staff from Sacyr UK, the contractor building the new Velindre Cancer Centre (nVCC), were visited by the Trust last month for a tour of the current site. 

The Trust is responsible for supervising the governance framework and ensuring effective control, including management risks and their key role involve making key decisions on the overall operations to ensure that safety is maintained for the staff, patients and people who will live local to the new nVCC.

Around 90 members of the Trust attended, including six groups of Velindre staff ranging from oncologists to volunteers, as well as parents of children who attend schools nearby, where the design of the project was discussed as well as the community initiatives that Sacyr UK will be supporting. 

The visit was initiated by Sacyr UK to highlight the sustainable elements of the project, where not only will the cancer centre itself be environmentally conscious, but also the community projects the nVCC will be supporting.

Going forward, Sacyr UK is in the process of arranging visits for local schools to make pupils aware of the project and to educate them on its development.

Carlos Acuna, Design Manager of the nVCC project, said: “This has been a great opportunity to show people from the Trust around the site - particularly those who are going to work here and live nearby. This is my thirty-first healthcare project in my career as a design manager and it was great to help lead on the day, especially to highlight and discuss sustainability at the new Velindre Cancer Centre. It’s really important to make people aware of this, as it will be a great opportunity to have a lasting impact on the local community and future generations.

“We’re anticipating the next Trust visit will be towards the end of the summer or beginning of Autumn when the build will be watertight. I’m looking forward to showcasing the progress we will have achieved by this time.”