Member Article

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and MBNA Volunteers Working Together to Improve Canal Habitat

Chester, UK: A stretch of the Shropshire Union Canal in Ellesmere Port has been given a new lease of life thanks to the efforts of 20 volunteers.

The team from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and MBNA, based at Chester Business Park, dived into a one-day project with The National Waterways Museum to provide better access to the water for local wildlife, which includes ducklings, cygnets, moorhens and herons.

Volunteers also removed litter from the canal bed, planted shrubs and improved the quality of the water by filtering out potentially hazardous nitrates. The final part of the project involved the installation of wood bundles and natural fibre rolls, designed to stabilise the canal banks for the next 25 years and prevent erosion.

Andy Lowe from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said: “We’re really pleased that the team from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and MBNA were able to use their volunteering time to help restore a stretch of this historic canal.

“We hope that, with teams across the business working together in our local area, our volunteers made a real difference not only for local communities enjoying the surroundings but also the wildlife that depends on clean and healthy waterways.”

The project with the National Waterways Museum is part of a country-wide initiative to improve the management and conservation of waterways in England, which have seen a decline in wildlife and water quality in recent years.

Glenn Young, Volunteer Coordinator for The National Waterways Museum, added: “I’d like to thank the volunteers from Bank of America Merrill Lynch and MBNA for all their hard work on this project. It was great to see everybody enjoying themselves and their efforts will benefit this part of the canal for years to come.

“The area has been restored to a place of beauty and the new plants and vegetation will add something new to the natural habitat, which we hope will encourage even more wildlife to thrive in the area.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Elle Brunton .