Case Study: Yorkshire Water employees help out at Fairburn Ings Nature Reserve
As a leading water supply company, Yorkshire Water remains true to its roots, continually investing in the Yorkshire area to improve the lives of all who live there. Recently, 36 employees took time away from their day-to-day duties to help out at the RSPB Fairburn Ings Nature Reserve and make a real difference to the community.
The sprawling reserve is home to many different species and offers numerous walks and nature trails for visitors to enjoy around the picture-perfect lakes and ponds. Maintaining the area can be tough but thankfully the enthusiastic Yorkshire Water volunteers were on-hand to help out.
The volunteering was split into two sessions, the first taking place in early September. Maria Hullah and her team of eight customer service specialists spent the day working in an ecologically sensitive area, removing silver birch saplings from the coal tips trail.
The next session took place later in September and saw a larger team of 28 volunteers working across three days to clear scrub, young trees and bushes from the reed bed. The aim was to create a habitat for rare birds, like the enigmatic bitter.
The team was headed up by Adam Folkard from the Government and Compliance team at Yorkshire Water. Speaking of the company’s collective efforts, he said: “It’s great to get out on the ground and help make a difference at sites like these. We’re encouraged to volunteer and we get a lot out of the day just by spending it together as a team, doing something different. Yorkshire Water has a big, diverse workforce with lots of different skills and we’re really keen to share these with local communities and partner organisations.”
The teams efforts have helped make a real difference to the site. Sally Grainer, Aire Valley Visitor Experience Officer for the RSPB said; “Breeding season is over and now it’s all hands on deck to clear encroaching scrub so areas stay open for ground nesting birds like skylark and oystercatcher.”
“The hard work of volunteers like those from Yorkshire Water really does help us keep giving nature a home at Fairburn Ings.”
This isn’t the first time the Yorkshire Water team has helped the community. The company has partnered with the RSPB, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Sheffield Wildlife Trust and the Aire Rivers Trust to improve the Yorkshire region. Over the course of three years, almost 300 staff members have volunteered at the Fairburn Ings Nature Reserve alone.
