School BMX track brought back to life by SUEZ volunteers ahead of the start of term

Four teams of two volunteers spread across four days managed to clear the cycle track and forest area ready for the children of East-the-Water to enjoy and benefit from it. The track is used by the children at lunchtime, during PE lessons and in after school clubs to develop their skills, cycling over boulders, around tight bends and even making daring jumps. In fact, the children have become so good that they have won the Devon Schools Cyclocross championship six out of the last seven years.

The volunteers removed leaves, grass, brambles and weeds, uncovering a large selection of balls and toys that were hidden in the overgrown vegetation. These are now back in circulation for the students to enjoy.

The People and Planet ethos at SUEZ provides the opportunity for every member of staff to spend a working day a year volunteering for a local organisation or charity. This allows employees to give something back and support initiatives in their local community. Volunteering at East-the-Water Primary school is one great example of this.

Rob Sanders, Regional Manager for SUEZ recycling and recovery UK said: “I’m proud that members of our team were able to give something back to East-the-Water school which is close to one of our facilities. Just by spending a little of our working time clearing the track and forest provided such a great and safe place for the children to get outside and enjoy cycling in nature. Thank you to Robbie Andrews who is our Area Supervisor for organising such a worthwhile volunteer activity”.

Adam Buckeridge Headteacher at East-the-Water Primary School said: “We are so grateful to all of the hard work from the SUEZ team. Each September we spend several weeks cutting back the forest area after the summer before we are able to use it again. Because of the hard work of the volunteers, children were back on the track in the first week of September and the track looks better than ever”.