One could be forgiven for thinking that a visit from Cadent engineers would often be met with raised eyebrows or the worry of traffic disruption, but when the team rolled into Sharnbrook on Tuesday 17 October, it was for a very different reason.
Major upgrade works have been taking place in the Bedfordshire village over the past two years, but these were all wrapped up in the summer with safe and reliable pipes being reinforced in the area ensuring many more years of usage.
However, Cadent has been very aware that they have become a regular sight in the village and wanted to give something more positive back to the residents rather than traffic lights and holes.
Discussions took place with Sharnbrook Parish Council and it was agreed that a band of Cadent Engineers would head back to the village to take part in a restoration campaign of all the wooden benches in the village.
Armed with buckets, wire brushes, rubber gloves and wood varnish, a team of ten from Cadent headed into the village, rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
Speaking about the visit, Lead Delivery Engineer, Pete Day said: “I expect that there were a few raised eyebrows when our vans arrived on Tuesday morning with people expecting the worst, but we wanted to do something positive for the community.
“Some of us have been working in Sharnbrook for quite a while and have had discussions with residents about the disruption which was caused. People have been very understanding and completely understood the reasoning behind the upgrades that have taken place, but we all know that any disruption to daily commutes can be frustrating.
“At Cadent, we give all our employees two paid days to volunteer for good causes which align to the three themes of our social impact framework of making life easier, fairer, and greener. Ultimately, we want to make effective use of our volunteering days by making a real impact in the communities that we all live and work in, so doing something for Sharnbrook really did seem like a great idea and a way of saying thank you for putting up with us for so long.
“I won’t lie, it’s been demanding work and a few of us have picked up a few splinters along the way, but I think all of the benches have been revitalised and look fantastic. Fingers crossed, residents in Sharnbrook will be able to continue to enjoy using them for many years to come.”
As a company, Cadent has pledged to donate more than 3,000 volunteering days to local worthy causes over a five-year period across all its networks in the UK.
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