Residents of all ages join litter picking effort

Armed with litter sacks and pickers provided by the Council, groups and individuals took a stand against litter in their area by organising local picks.

Large amounts of rubbish were gathered by local litter heroes across the Borough before being collected and disposed of by the Council’s StreetScene team.

Seven groups and a number of individuals took part in the litter pick; members of the 3rd Chandler’s Ford Scouts Group took on litter in two areas of Chandler’s Ford, while members of the Hamble Valley Rotary Club collected four sack loads during a two-hour pick in Hedge End.

Eastleigh Lions picked around the Poets’ Roads, Derby Road and Grantham Green area in Eastleigh and residents and staff at Brendoncare Knightwood Care Home cleared their local area. Hamble Conservation Volunteers took part again after a successful pick during last year’s Great British Spring Clean. While parishioners of St Nicolas went out in household groups around North Stoneham.

Des Mahon, a volunteer with the Scouts, said: “The Scouts in Chandler’s Ford are always looking at ways to help our local community and this is just another step towards how we prepare young people with the skills to help other people and have a positive impact on those around them.

“Working in partnership with Eastleigh Borough Council as part of the Great British September Clean has been a pleasure for our young people and adult volunteers and the whole group look forward to working with them again in the future.”

The Great British September Clean was run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy and litter picks like this happened up and down the country.

Cabinet Lead for the Environment, Cllr Rupert Kyrle, said: “The efforts made by these groups is truly inspiring. It’s fantastic to see people who care about their local area giving up their free time to make it a better place for everyone.

“It’s such a shame littering happens at all. It’s a blight on our environment, harms wildlife and is completely avoidable if people take their litter home with them or put it in a public bin.”