A GROUP of over 30 employees from three local McDonald's stores did a massive clean-up on the Chesterfield Canal on Tuesday.
The stores that took part were the Chesterfield Town Centre McDonald's, the Drive-Thru McDonald's on Derby Road and Markham Vale McDonald's. Led by Jordan Ball, they split into three groups.
Himalayan Balsam
One group did a litter pick in areas near the canal. A second group pulled up lots of Himalayan Balsam. This is a pernicious weed, imported by the Victorians, that spreads really fast unless kept in check.
The third group painted an iron footbridge that crosses the Rother, with the paint being supplied by Dulux. This bridge had been in a pretty poor state, being covered in graffiti, which was cleared off by Graffiti Away, a local company that wanted to join in with the McDonald's group. The group also cleared graffiti from some other structures along the canal. By the time the volunteers had finished their painting, the bridge was totally transformed.
Countryside Rangers
Derbyshire County Council's Countryside Rangers played its part by cutting back some undergrowth and removing the dozens of bags of litter and Himalayan Balsam that had been collected.
At the end, the Mayor and Mayoress of Chesterfield, Cllr Steve Brunt and Mrs Jill Manion-Brunt, joined the Leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, Cllr John Burrows, at Tapton Lock Visitor Centre to thank the volunteers for their hard work.
Afterwards Jordan enthused:
"This has been a really worthwhile event. McDonald's is committed to LWYL—Love Where You Live—and we hope to repeat the exercise next year."