Partner Article

Customer care workers safeguard Sunderland park against flooding

A group of local Sunderland customer care workers have been thanked for their voluntary work at one of the city’s most popular country parks.

Four groups of staff from EDF Energy’s Doxford International Business Park office have dedicated their time to maintaining and improving the grounds at Herrington Country Park over the past month.

Workers recently completed their final work on the project, which included manually digging a drainage ditch to protect the park and neighbouring houses against the risk of flooding.

Councillor John Scott, who attended the group’s final visit to the site, said, “We thoroughly appreciate the hard work and efforts of the EDF Energy volunteers in helping to improve conditions in the park.

“We have developed a close working relationship with the company and the work they regularly undertake makes an important contribution to the quality of the park and its environment.”

The staff from EDF Energy braved the cold temperatures and wet weather to complete their latest project at Herrington Park under the watchful eye of park ranger Ian Graham.

Ian said, “The severe rain storm during the summer ran from the park into the gardens of the private houses, and closely missed the homes of those living on the park. With the help of the volunteers we can now re-direct any rain water into the new drainage ditch, avoiding damaging the grounds and houses.

“We would like to thank all of those involved in the project. The task was very important and the team did a fantastic job safeguarding the park and the neighbouring houses against flooding or potential damage in the future.”

Through EDF Energy’s ‘Helping Hands’ programme, the energy firm’s employees are able to use two days of company time each year to volunteer and support local charitable and environmental projects.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by EDF Energy .