Network operator Freedom Fibre, which has so far built a Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband ISP network to cover 300,000 UK premises (27th Mar 2024) – mostly in the North West of England, has distributed litter picking kits across North Shropshire to both help keep the region tidy and support their social commitment under last year’s Project Gigabit contract.
In case anybody has forgotten, during May 2023 the company announced that it had secured a £24m state-aid supported Project Gigabit contract to expand their FTTP network to cover 12,000 of the hardest to reach (rural) premises in North Shropshire (England) by around the end of 2026. In addition to this, Freedom Fibre will extend its network to a further c.50,000 premises in the same county via commercial investment.
The build phase recently began and the first properties – in locations such as Cockshutt, Hinstock, High Ercall, Bomere Heath, Hadnall, Cheswardine and Clive – aren’t expected to start going live on the new network until around October 2024. But as part of the operator’s related social value commitments, they’ve now started handing out litter pick kits across North Shropshire.
Every parish in North Shropshire has been invited to apply for a kit, consisting of litter pickers, bin bags and hoop-holders, gloves and ‘Keep Shropshire Tidy’ high-visibility jackets. But it’s unclear precisely how many such kits have been set aside for this.
Marie Danby, Freedom Fibre’s Customer Operations Director, said:
“As we roll-out our full-fibre broadband network across North Shropshire, it is important to us that we invest in and support the communities where we are operating. We’re so happy to distribute these litter pick kit, and we hope that local groups will make good use of them.”