McDonald’s Restaurants are Loving RAYS

THREE McDonald’s restaurants have signed up to the Reading Adopt Your Street (RAYS) scheme to tackle litter in their areas.

Staff at McDonald’s branches in Oxford Road, west Reading; Forbury Retail Park, central Reading and Reading Gate Retail Park, south Reading have volunteered to join the popular litter-picking project run by Reading Borough Council. The teams will be regularly patrolling their patches and playing a big part in keeping their areas clean. The Council launched the RAYS project in March 2017 to encourage community participation in keeping neighbourhoods tidy. One year on, it has 310 people involved either as individuals or as members of organisations.

Cllr Liz Terry, Reading’s Lead Councillor for Neighbourhoods, said:

“I am delighted that local McDonald’s restaurants have come on board and joined Reading Adopt Your Street. “To have such a big high street name supporting our project is a big boost after a successful first year of RAYS. “Teams of volunteers from the three restaurants will make a big impact on improving the environment around them.”

McDonald’s franchisee Richard Forte, who owns and operates seven restaurants in the local area, said:

“I was delighted to see so many of my team volunteer to help out with this excellent community initiative. We are so proud to support RAYS and to continue to demonstrate our commitment to tackling litter and improving the local area. “It’s a key priority of ours to ensure that this remains an enjoyable place to live, work and visit. As a business we understand the important role that we play in making the area a cleaner place for everyone.” Students from the University of Reading joined RAYS at the end of last year and volunteers are regularly out and about keeping neighbouring streets clean. Other groups which have signed up so far include Tilehurst Globe, Caversham Globe, Baker Street Area Neighbourhood Association (BSANA), Hamilton Road Resident’s Association, Katesgrove Primary School and Alfred Sutton Primary School. Volunteers are supplied with litter picking equipment by the Council to help keep their adopted streets looking good. This is in addition to the Council’s normal street cleaning schedules. Anyone interested in finding out more about the Reading Adopt Your Street scheme should call (0118) 937 3534 or email: RAYS@reading.gov.uk.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Reading Adopt Your Streets was launched by the Council in March 2017 after winning £10,000 funding from the Tesco Bags of Help initiative which allocates grants for community projects from money raised by the 5p plastic bag levy.