Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal visited Veolia’s Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF) in Southwark, London last week to celebrate workplace training and thank key workers who have continued to serve the country during the COVID-19 crisis.
Her Royal Highness greeted school children learning about the recycling process, before undertaking a tour of the facility with Veolia Southwark’s General Manager, Julie Angulo and Kirstie Donnelly MBE, Chief Executive Officer of City & Guilds Group.
The visit followed Veolia’s Princess Royal Training Award (PRTA) win for outstanding commitment to workplace training in 2019, presented by the City & Guilds Group. The award recognised Veolia’s Respect at Work initiative; a training programme designed to support employees who encounter verbal or physical abuse from members of the public.
This is a wonderful opportunity to recognise and acknowledge the unsung heroes of this past year
The engagement concluded with The Princess Royal greeting Veolia employees who were on the front line, maintaining essential services during the pandemic. Representatives from Veolia Southwark’s collection teams, apprentices and plant operatives were thanked for their outstanding contributions to keeping the borough going during a challenging year.
Gavin Graveson, Executive Vice-President Veolia UK and Ireland said: “Veolia were incredibly proud to have received this award, which recognises its commitment to our people and their safety. After a year in which essential services have been relied upon, this visit from The Princess Royal is a fantastic opportunity to recognise and thank key workers who have worked tirelessly throughout the last twelve months.”
Cllr Catherine Rose, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Environment and Roads Southwark Council said: “This is a wonderful opportunity to recognise and acknowledge the unsung heroes of this past year. We join people from across our borough who thanked their local waste collection teams with notes, pictures and gifts, and applaud the outstanding service that collections staff continued to deliver, in the most challenging of circumstances.
We also commend Veolia, for supporting their staff to stay Covid secure throughout the pandemic and for their programme of training and development opportunities.”
