PENtland staff live up to their name with volunteer task

Staff from Pentland Distribution Services (PDS) got to grips with an unused bird pen to help spruce up the stream area at WWT Washington.

WA Pentland volunteering July 2014 (2)The PDS volunteers worked alongside Daniel Barker, our grounds and facilities manager, to safely remove the large-scale structure, which had acted as a holding area for the introduction of different bird species into the habitat.

Daniel said: “We no longer had a use for the pen and needed to remove it so we could use the material elsewhere on site and make the area look nicer.

“But it was a group task that we were finding difficult to arrange as we’re such a small team.

“The PDS staff weren’t at all put off by the thorny bushes or awkward wire fencing; they got stuck straight into helping me and we had everything removed and tidied up in one afternoon, which I was very happy with!”

Based at the Glover Distribution Centre (a subsidiary of the Pentland Group), on Washington’s Glover Industrial Estate, PDS receives and stores bulk deliveries from manufacturers, both within the Pentland Group and other third party contracts, and arranges their redistribution.

The company, a member of the WWT Corporate Partnership Scheme, has strong links with WWT Washington, having already donated top-of-the-range Hunter wellies for the wardens and £1,500 in environmental awards for vital grass-cutting equipment and to boost the coffers for a sustainable garden revamp.

In 2012 the team helped to create a hibernaculum in WWT Washington’s Hollowood area and in 2013 they volunteered their time to kick-start the sustainable garden project; relaying an entrance path, felling non-native tree species and overhauling a greenhouse area.

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