EDF managers muck in at nature reserve
Senior managers at EDF Energy have been digging deep so visitors to a city nature reserve can walk around without getting their feet wet.Director of customer services, Kevin Gatens, joined ten members of the senior management team to install a drainage system at Durham Wildlife Trust’s Rainton Meadows visitor centre, in Houghton le Spring.
The group donned their wellies and waterproofs to dig trenching and install drainage along one of the pathways around the visitor centre that was regularly flooding.
Kevin said: “It’s always good to get out into the community and offer a helping hand and on this occasion we decided to help at Rainton Meadows.
“The visitor centre is popular with families and school groups, and the flooding pathway made it trickier for them to move around the site and visit all of the different areas of the nature reserve.
“We all really enjoyed the day. It was a great team-building exercise for us and now the visitors can get around the site without having to dodge the puddles.”
The task was completed as part of the company’s Helping Hands volunteering programme. The scheme allows every member of staff at least two days of company time each year to help support the local community.
Rainton Meadows nature reserve, home to more than 200 species of bird and other wetland, woodland and grassland animals, has been developed on the site of the former Rye Hill opencast coal mine. It has an interlinked series of ponds and scrapes, grasslands and a large area of woodland, all linked by an extensive footpath network.
Mark Dinning, nature reserves officer at Durham Wildlife Trust, said: “We rely heavily upon the work of volunteers at the wildlife trust to ensure our nature reserves are kept in a great condition in which wildlife can thrive. The hard work of the EDF Energy staff will mean people can access areas of the site all year round and enjoy the fantastic show of wildlife in the beautiful setting of Rainton Meadows.”
Rainton Meadows is currently being renovated and a new coffee shop and improved visitor centre will be opening in the next couple of weeks.
Durham Wildlife Trust is one of EDF Energy’s community partners and staff complete tasks at a number of the trust’s sites through the Helping Hands scheme.
Anyone interested in volunteering for Durham Wildlife Trust can visit www.durhamwt.co.uk or call 0191 5843112 to find out more.
Tweet20 May 2009
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