Ubico offers help to Friends of Leckhampton Hill

The volunteers will help clear an expanse of overgrown land on the Leckhampton Hill nature reserve.
 
The Ubico management team agreed they would like to give up some of their time as part of an ongoing commitment to support local community and volunteer groups. They decided to join the Friends of Leckhampton Hill (FOLK), a dedicated team of volunteers that hold work parties three times a month to improve the environment of the site.

Ubico will send along 8-10 volunteers on Tuesday 16 September who will assist in grass cutting, general scrub clearance and raking work. Cheltenham Borough Council’s Senior Community Ranger Wayne Sedgwick has earmarked an area that has been overgrown for some time now and has recently had a contractor in to carry out some heavier tree and hedge clearance works in preparation. The volunteers will be working together to clear the site which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is hoped that the clearance works will open up a new view point for visitors of the site to enjoy for years to come.

Rob Bell, Managing Director, Ubico Ltd said: “I am pleased that we are able to offer some help to a worthwhile cause right on our door step. The Leckhampton Hill nature reserve and common is a wonderful place to visit and we are happy to be able to offer some support towards the ongoing maintenance of the site.
“FOLK work incredibly hard all year round and in all weathers to maintain the site and we wanted to contribute in some way.”

Mike Donnelly, FOLK Work Party Coordinator adds:  “We are very grateful for the extra volunteer help from Ubico. The Ubico contribution will help us complete this large project to recreate an open area of grassland that over the years has become very overgrown with weed and Hawthorn. This work will help maintain the grassland, increase the views and the open space for the public recreation."

If you would like to offer some of your free time to help on the project, please contact Cheltenham Borough Council’s Community rangers: [email protected] Telephone: 01242 250019

ENDS

For press enquiries relating to Ubico, contact: Claire Blizzard, Marketing and Communications Officer, telephone 01285 623441, 07592 336875 email [email protected] 

For press enquiries relating to Cheltenham Borough Council, contact: Laura Carter, communications officer, telephone 01242 264154, email [email protected]

Photo opportunity: The group will be working on site Tuesday 16 September 09:30 until 12:30. Access is a short walk from the Daisy Bank Road car park.

Notes:
Ubico is a local authority company jointly owned by Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC) and Cotswold District Council (CDC). The company is governed by articles and a shareholder agreement, and the leaders of the two councils act as shareholders.

In the first two years of trading the company has saved the shareholders in the region of £2 million pounds in savings and is forecast to deliver savings of £5 million pounds in the first 5 years of trading.

Both councils have contracts with Ubico to deliver a range of services.

For Cotswold District Council these services are:
• Waste and recycling
• Street cleaning
• Landscape and cemetery maintenance

For Cheltenham Borough Council these services are:
• Waste and recycling
• Trade waste
• Street cleaning
• Grounds maintenance
• Toilet cleaning
• Fleet management
• Sports pitch marking and pavilion cleaning
• Highways agency agreement
• School grounds maintenance contract
• Nursery operations