On Monday 9th October, seven Alltruck employees from the Leicester Head Office, Loughborough and Nottingham depots volunteered to spend a day gardening at The Outwoods. The project is driven by Leicestershire Cares, a charity that Alltruck has a close partnership with, aligning to their commitment to caring for the local community.
Located in Loughborough, The Outwoods is a high priority environmental challenge. The aim of the programme is to conserve the wetland and maintain the area to encourage biodiversity. This will then allow wildlife species to thrive as well as making the woodland more inviting for visitors.
Rhododendron has invaded the area, it is a non-native species which threatens the growth of native plants in the area. Our task for the day was to take out and dispose of two large Rhododendron plants. The task was much harder than first anticipated with due to the vast network of roots. The team worked together to achieve their goal, pulling out many roots, preventing the plant from returning and causing further damage. The team even managed to celebrate with some toasted marshmallows on the campfire.
Our efforts impressed the Rangers who were grateful for the help with such a big task. Without Alltruck’s help the task would have taken many to complete.
Sarah Moore, Marketing Executive for Alltruck commented on her experience at The Outwoods: “It was great to spend a day out of the office doing something completely different to help the local community. It was also nice to spend time with employees I wouldn’t normally work with and learn more about them. We were all so pleased with the progress we had made, we worked hard to get rid of the Rhododendron. It was very satisfying seeing the end result, knowing you have made a positive impact on the local community.”
Alltruck is proud to support Leicestershire Cares and supports many similar initiatives throughout the year. We encourage staff to take a day away from their work to help with community projects such as this. For more information on Alltruck’s commitment to the community, click here.