The Leicester Tigers Academy have been giving back to the community by helping Leicester City Council tidy up two of the city's parks.
The Academy players have been getting their hands dirty on two separate projects at Abbey Park and Knighton Park.
The group at Abbey Park have been taking to boats to clear rubbish from a mile-long stretch of the River Soar. The players pulled bikes, tyres, traffic cones and shopping trolleys from the river during the day.
At Knighton Park the Academy players erected 160m of fencing along the northern edge of the park, trimmed trees and hedges, and dug up roots which will allow the borders to flourish.
“It’s been a massive help,” said Mick Eaton, head gardener at Leicester City Council’s parks department, of the work at Knighton Park. “They have done a good job and we’re very pleased.
“The effort that the lads have put in has saved us two or three days work.”
Academy coach Brett Deacon has been working with the Abbey Park group. He said: “During the morning they pulled out enough rubbish to fill the back of a Land Rover and are going back out again in the afternoon.
“It’s good to give back to the community and that’s the main reason we’re doing it.
“It keeps their feet on the ground and makes them realise what people outside of rugby have to do. And there’s the team work element as well.
“We’ll be looking to do more of it in the future,” Deacon added.
The Academy players have been getting their hands dirty on two separate projects at Abbey Park and Knighton Park.
The group at Abbey Park have been taking to boats to clear rubbish from a mile-long stretch of the River Soar. The players pulled bikes, tyres, traffic cones and shopping trolleys from the river during the day.
At Knighton Park the Academy players erected 160m of fencing along the northern edge of the park, trimmed trees and hedges, and dug up roots which will allow the borders to flourish.
“It’s been a massive help,” said Mick Eaton, head gardener at Leicester City Council’s parks department, of the work at Knighton Park. “They have done a good job and we’re very pleased.
“The effort that the lads have put in has saved us two or three days work.”
Academy coach Brett Deacon has been working with the Abbey Park group. He said: “During the morning they pulled out enough rubbish to fill the back of a Land Rover and are going back out again in the afternoon.
“It’s good to give back to the community and that’s the main reason we’re doing it.
“It keeps their feet on the ground and makes them realise what people outside of rugby have to do. And there’s the team work element as well.
“We’ll be looking to do more of it in the future,” Deacon added.
