On Thursday 2nd February 2006 the new accommodation and welfare block, part of Project sLAM (Single Living Accommodation Modernisation), was officially opened by Major General Andrew Graham, Director General, Army Training and Recruiting.
Built as part of the initiative to modernise single living accommodation, the opening of the new facility means single soldiers will each have their own room with en-suite facilities. They will also enjoy communal leisure and recreation areas.
The move indicates the Army's commitment to remain in the Bovington area as a major employer and its pledge to improving the 'home' facilities for its soldiers.
Vice Admiral Peter Dunt, Chief Executive of Defence Estates, is pleased with the feedback of Project SLAM to date:
"The encouraging thing with SLAM is that all the people who have used the new accommodation absolutely love it....the positive feedback is really very important because we are doing this to improve recruitment and long term retention."
Project SLAM is a Functional Prime Contract to upgrade Single Living Accommodation for the Armed Services across England, Wales and, to a lesser extent, Scotland. The project is a ten year programme; the first five-year phase, valued at approximately £500M, was awarded to Debut Services Ltd (DSL) in December 2002 and, in April 2003, construction work began.
The contract awarded to DSL will deliver some 10,000 single bedspaces, most with en-suite facilities, which will offer a greatly improved living environment for the Services and contrast with the multi-occupancy rooms traditionally found on many Ministry of Defence sites.
DSL has responsibility for maintaining the buildings for seven years following their completion to ensure that whole life issues are considered during design and the maintenance regime is demonstrated.