Celebrating International Women's Day

Date published: 8th March 2019

Meet sisters Claire and Theresa McCarron who work on the refuse collection rounds in North Norfolk. 

Surrounded by male colleagues and in a traditionally male role, Claire and Theresa both say they have had nothing but positive reactions from their team mates and the people they meet on their rounds. 

“We get people thanking us when we empty their bins and then they do a double take,” said Theresa.

“It’s normally women who comment and they say things like ‘good for you!’.” 

Claire, who has been with Kier for nearly four years, drives and loads her lorry ‘Bessie’, while her sister Theresa loads lorries on other rounds. 

They both admit it’s a physically demanding job, but are used to manual work. 

The role might not attract many women across the country, but the sisters say there are plenty of positives. 

“People think working on the bins is dirty and disgusting but it’s not like that,” said Theresa. “You get to be outdoors a lot, it’s really social and the people we meet are lovely.”