Sheffield based Fletchers Waste Management have partnered with environmental CSR specialists Ark to participate in two major environmental projects in Yorkshire.
Teams from the business will be working alongside the Don Catchment Rivers Trust (DCRT) to take part in two local projects “Balsam Bash” and “Leaky Dams”, both based in the beautiful Moss Valley just south of Sheffield.
The team participated in the Balsam Bash project last week, working with DCRT to target the invasive Himalayan Balsam which is harming biodiversity by smothering and suppressing riverbank vegetation. The group worked with DCRT pulling out the balsam plants before they begin to seed in late summer.
Fletchers will also help with natural flood management in the area by building “leaky dams” in the Moss Valley as part of efforts to reduce flooding downstream in places like the Rother Valley. The team will really be getting their hands dirty on both projects and making a huge difference to their local environment as well as building their team resilience and spirit.
Gavin Leverett, Fletchers Managing Director, said “As a waste business we are often seen as “part of the problem”, however this misunderstands what we are actually doing. We therefore wanted to do something that would make people outside of the business see us with fresh eyes, both in terms of the CSR projects but also hopefully in what we do day-in and day-out. We are not trying to green-wash the business, rather we want people internally and externally to see that we are trying to play our part.”
Fletchers are being supported in their efforts by Ark who helped them connect and collaborate with the projects. They help businesses get involved in environmental projects by matching them with an array of local, national and international environmental programmes ranging from building dams to planting Seagrass, supporting local wildlife to helping Orangutan populations in Sumatra.
Gavin continued “Ark demonstrated a passion for doing something positive for the environment and Nigel Sikora, Ark co-founder, was able to articulate a “eureka” moment from his past that was authentic and supported this passion. Without Ark, it would have been much harder to connect to the projects; working with them has forced us in a positive way to raise our vision from our day-to-day tasks and engage in the bigger picture.”
Nigel Sikora, co-founder of Ark, said “When we spoke to Gavin and the team at Fletchers we could see that they really wanted to make a difference to the environment. There was a passion to do something locally and that’s what we love. There are so many things to do to improve our environment and the ways businesses can get involved are numerous.”
