Openreach volunteers turn the tide on rubbish during Hunstanton beach clean

More than 40 Openreach people volunteered their time to collect rubbish and carry out a spring clean at Hunstanton beach in Norfolk.

The team, who’re responsible for building full fibre broadband across East Anglia and the Midlands collected more than 20 bags of rubbish, picking up coffee cups, fish and chip wrappers, arcade tickets and other items.

Openreach employees can volunteer locally for three days each year, and the team – led by Michaela Beauchamp – chose to spend their time litter-picking on the beach, before continuing their good work in the town centre.

Other recent Openreach volunteering across the East of England and Midlands includes tree planting, the restoration of a community garden, footpath clearance and a sponsored hike.

Michaela, who’s a Development and Engagement Manager for Openreach, said: “I came up with the idea that we should do something for the local community.

“We can all take volunteering days throughout the year, and everyone was keen to do something worthwhile. After battling storms in recent years, we nicknamed our volunteering time ‘Beach from the East’!

“We are grateful for the support of the Mayor of Hunstanton and for the local council who helped us out with litter-picking equipment. More than 40 of the Openreach team took part, and because it was half-term, we also had many of their children to help out, and lots of furry friends.

“Our work didn’t go unnoticed by the local community who were so appreciative of what we were doing for their town.

“Everyone was in good spirits, grateful to be coming together to do something good, and it helped that we had blue skies despite temperatures being freezing.

“It’s something we’ll definitely be doing again.”

The volunteer clean-up coincided with Openreach making full fibre broadband available to more than 150,000 homes and businesses across Norfolk.

Around 3,500 of the company’s engineers work in the East of England.