MCDONALD’S staff helped clean up Govanhill as part of a three-day community event.

The crew from the McDonald’s restaurant on Pollokshaws Road recently joined forces with students from Kingspark, Holyrood and St Margaret Mary’s Secondary School to clean up the local area, clearing an impressive 30 bags of rubbish.

First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, also attended the event to show her support for the collaborative approach of young people’s involvement.

This event is just one of a number of McDonald’s clean-ups which have taken place across Scotland as part of its ongoing support of Keep Scotland Beautiful’s ‘Clean Up Scotland’ campaign since 2007. The campaign and partnership is now in its eleventh year, and continues to encourage residents of local communities to take action and work together to tackle litter in their area.

Local McDonald’s Area Manager Julian Rumsey, who looks after eight restaurants across Glasgow and Livingston, including the one on Pollokshaws Road, said: “I was really proud to see everyone come together and help tidy up Govanhill. It’s a key priority of ours to ensure that the local area remains free of litter and an enjoyable place to live, work and visit. It was absolutely fantastic to have the support from Kingspark, Holyrood and St Margaret Mary’s Secondary Schools, and to have the First Minister of Scotland come down and show her support was an honour. I would like to thank everyone for taking part and I look forward to working together in the future.”

Aside from larger litter events such as these, McDonald’s restaurants patrol the streets at least three times a day to collect all litter that has been discarded, regardless of its origin. Crew members across the UK cover a total of 3,000 miles each week on litter patrols, which equates to 150,000 miles a year and the distance of five marathons each year per store.

Derek Robertson, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “Through our Clean up Scotland campaign we support thousands of people each year to improve the places they care about by removing litter. We are delighted that Pollokshaws McDonald’s staff are getting involved to clean up the local area, as businesses have a real part to play. As one of the first members of our national coalition of people and organisations taking responsibility for our surroundings, McDonald’s has continued to show a real commitment to the Clean Up Scotland campaign, and to making Scotland clean, green and more sustainable. “

Since McDonald’s began supporting the ‘Love Where You Live’ campaign in 2010, over 1,900 events and activity days have been organised by restaurant staff in the UK, involving over 57,000 volunteers.

In addition to the annual Keep Scotland Beautiful litter events and daily patrols, many restaurants have also now begun to get involved in events such as painting walls and replanting trees and flowers that improve local community areas.