A group of agents in Sunderland have helped their local park to maintain its ‘green’ status.
The Helping Hands volunteer groups from EDF Energy have picked up their gardening tools to tend to the grounds of Roker Park (Sunderland) – to help it continue to meet the standards set by Keep Britain Tidy’s Green Flag Award scheme.
The standards set by the award include restrictions on the use of weed killers, requiring a higher need for manual labour, maintenance and attention.
Four groups of staff from EDF Energy helped out at the park over a three-week period, getting their hands dirty on a range of maintenance work, including litter picking and horticultural work and removing weeds from flower beds.
“The Helping Hands teams from EDF Energy have done a great job. They carried out a wide range of essential activities to a very high standard that have made a real difference to the park’s appearance,” said Andrew Old at Sunderland City Council, who led the project with EDF Energy. “The park is very well used and more and more events are being held here, such as the annual illuminations display. The volunteer work is essential to help us maintain the Green Flag award, so we would like to thank EDF Energy for their time and effort in helping us with this work.”
Roker Park has maintained its Green Flag status for ten years. The award is designed to be the benchmark of quality for parks and green spaces, guaranteeing that the area is welcoming, clean, well-maintained, safe and secure. It also ensures the park area is managed sustainably and pays attention to the conservation of the natural and built environment.
“Roker Park is a very popular place and everyone has their own memories here as a child, or as adults with their own children, so it is great that we can get involved in its upkeep,” said Craig Wilkinson at EDF Energy. “It is also very rewarding that our involvement helps to ensure that it keeps its Green Flag status and sustain its recognition as one as one of the country’s best parks. As a Sunderland-based workforce, we not only enjoy the charitable aspect of our work at local places like this, but it is a great team-building exercise too.”
The EDF Energy Helping Hands programme allows all 1,600 employees at Doxford to take up to two days’ paid leave every year to volunteer in the community. The projects they work on not only benefit local people, they also provide personal development and team-building opportunities for staff.
Author: Megan Jones
Published On: 29th Oct 2014 - Last modified: 22nd Mar 2017
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