Veolia Volunteers

 

Volunteers from local recycling firm Veolia have been helping maintain the grounds of the historic Shrewsbury Castle. 

One of the volunteers, Phil Hartshorn said: “I usually spend my day driving the refuse vehicle around the town so this has made a nice change.  I think it’s great that my employer, Veolia, gives us the time off to help out in the local community.”


Shrewsbury Town Council had been trying to get something done about the trees opposite the Mayor's Parlour at the Castle for several years and finally received planning consent last month to remove them.

The volunteering is part of Veolia half day volunteering scheme where employees are encouraged to give something back to the local community.  All 12,000 staff who work for Veolia across the UK can spend a half day working in the local community or for a charitable organisation of their choice.  This amounts to 6,000 days each year across the whole company.

All the horticultural waste generated over the course of the day was taken to the Town Councils site in Meole Brace Shrewsbury for composting and chipping and thus will ultimately be re-used on public parks around the town.