McDonald's staff in '˜clean up'

McDonald's Restaurant staff, Lurgan, pictured before their litter pick on the Portadown Road. Included are back row from left, Kirsty McGrail, Niamh McQuillan, Andy Mallon, Conor McCarron and Rory Hardy. front fromleft, Garath Haddock and Ruairi Shallow.

They teamed up with ‘Live Here Love Here’ in support of the 2016 Big Spring Clean campaign.

McDonald’s has supported the Big Spring Clean since 2010 and every April restaurants organise and support events happening in their community.

“The group embarked on the challenge to give the local area a much needed refresh,” said a McDonald’s spokesperson.

This event is just one of a number of McDonald’s clean-ups which have taken place across the province. The campaign and partnership continues to encourage local communities to take action and work together to tackle litter in their area.

Paul Connan, local McDonald’s franchisee, said: “I was really proud to see everyone work together to help tidy up in the area around the Portadown Road. Ensuring the local area remains free of litter and an enjoyable place to be is a key priority of ours and I’d like to thank everyone involved for all their hard work.

“As a business we understand the important role that we play in making the area a better place. Whilst in the first instance we are keen to actively discourage littering, events like this one help make a huge impact on the local area. When local businesses like mine and community members come together to tackle local issues we are able to achieve so much more and this event is a perfect example of this.”

In 2015, McDonald’s coordinated 20 events across Northern Ireland with a total of 419 people taking part. As well as the larger-scale Big Spring Clean events, staff at every McDonald’s restaurant also patrol the streets daily to collect all litter that has been discarded, regardless of its origin.

Dr Ian Humphreys, CEO Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful said: “McDonald’s continues to demonstrate its commitment to tackling the problem of litter, both through their own business practices and through their work with communities to clear up the local area. Once again, we’re delighted to see staff and members of the local community coming together to support Live Here Love Here’s Big Spring Clean campaign. Over the past six years, the clean ups have been a great success.”