Freddie Flintoff has swapped the cricket bat for a litter picker by joining staff at a McDonald’s in Salford with their daily litter pick.
The cricket star, 44, made a surprise appearance earlier this week to help those clearing the Manchester Shipping Canal of litter. Freddie donned the high viz jacket and grappler to help staff from the McDonald’s branch at Riverside Retail Park in their daily clean.
Every day, around three times a day, staff at the restaurant branch will litter pick the areas surrounding the branch, which is just off Regent Road. It’s estimated that staff at all of Greater Manchester’s 24 McDonald’s branches combined will take part in 504 litter picks each week.
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Franchisee Mark Nuttall, who owns and operates 13 restaurants in the area, said: “It was fantastic to see Freddie in Salford, doing his bit to keep the city looking beautiful. I’m passionate about tackling the problem of litter in Salford, especially in the areas local to my restaurants. My teams go on daily litter-picking walks, and we organise regular litter picks as part of our ongoing commitment to keeping our streets clean and tidy.”
Freddie himself was keen to get involved, simply stating: “It’s in everyone’s interest to be more responsible and accountable when it comes to littering”. The sports star took part in the litter pick to help mark McDonald’s biggest ever nationwide litter pick, with over 150 restaurants taking part.
The week-long ‘Keep It Clean’ event has so far seen over 1,300 volunteers take part - including reality TV stars, sporting legends, radio presenters and music artists - by collecting over 1,000 bags of litter across the country. McDonald’s crew collect on average 27 tonnes of litter every year, covering a total of 5,000 miles each week.
In addition, McDonald’s has recycling units in over 1,100 of its restaurants. The chain recycles coffee cups from all coffee retailers and continues to develop a new industry standard for paper straws. The restaurant chain has also partnered with app LitterLotto, which encourages everyone to take a picture of litter they pick up for a chance to win prizes - including a jackpot of up to £25,000.
Last week, it was announced that McDonald's were having to 'ration' tomatoes due to shortages in the supply chain. It meant that popular menu items like the Big Tasty and the Big Tasty with Bacon had to be served with one slice of tomato rather than the regular two.
Meanwhile, we recently went to the effort of looking at the best and worst McDonald's in Greater Manchester according to their reviews on TripAdvisor. You can take a look at the rankings here.
