25 - Challenge Celebrated

Community Champions Look Back At Successful Challenge

Mac and Sue MacDonald are a forces couple who have always been involved with the military communities wherever they travelled. When they moved to Thetford 8 years ago, they were able to take part in local activities which included organising the monthly litter pick on the Admirals estate, which is run alongside the Residents Association. So, they thought they knew what they were doing when they were inspired by Captain Sir Tom Moore to do a “100-day Litter Pick” ….… How wrong they were!

Sue and Mac at the start of their Captain Tom 100 Challenge outside the Black Horse Pub

Orders were placed online for high-viz jackets and a cuddly Womble mascot and they were ready to begin. The first pick on 17 April was at Tesco’s, where they were joined by residents from the Norwich Road and Cloverfield estates and some of the shop staff. 25 bags of litter were collected in just one hour that first day and the challenge was on! They tried to visit every part of town; no estate was left unpicked. Some days they were lucky enough to be joined by groups of volunteers, other days it might be one or two fellow Wombles but mostly it was just the two of them.

Sue and Mac with fellow Wombles and their haul after a litter pick

As spring turned to summer, they found early morning picks in some of Thetford’s many beauty spots quite exhilarating, on summer solstice they even climbed the Castle mound to watch the sun peep through the clouds to start the longest day. There were some challenging periods when they despaired at the amount of litter but this was eased by the great support they received along the way; drivers shouting from their cars or peeping their horns, to interviews on BBC Radio Norfolk and lots of people telling them they followed their daily story on Facebook. A JustGiving page was set up at the beginning of the challenge for people to sponsor the MacDonald’s and although it was never just about raising funds, a whopping £1,500.00 was raised. Half was donated to two of Thetford’s wellbeing initiatives; the Men’s Shed and the Art Cafe. Both fantastic projects supporting local residents by providing a place to meet and interesting activities to do. The remainder was spent on litter picking equipment given to those who already regularly pick, or to those who might like to try their hand at wombling. After 3 and a half months the last day arrived. Small groups litter picked their way towards the Castle Park and a total of 36 bags of rubbish were collected on that final day. Over the 100 days around 545 bags of litter were collected, which equates to approximately 2496kg (not including the items of rubbish that wouldn’t fit in a bag). To put this is context that is about the same weight as 29 average sized men or heavier than the average family car! There is such a long list of people to thank who without their help and support the challenge would have more or less impossible. Sue and Mac would like to send their thanks to them all.