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WALK FOR A CAUSE David Grey
M
any years ago, I lived in a lovely village in the South Hams of Devon just outside Totnes. Most afternoons, you would spot a lady resident, armed with a bag in one hand and a litter picker in the other, scouring the verges and hedgerows for litter that motorists, and indeed pedestrians, had very selfishly just thrown away. Many people regarded her as mildly eccentric, but I personally always had a very strong admiration for her cause. A couple of weeks ago, I spotted one of my neighbours walking towards Waitrose armed with her bag and litter picker. When I asked her if she was worried that people might consider her to be slightly batty, she replied, ‘David, I honestly do not care what anyone thinks.’ When I saw her later in the week, I asked her if she would mind if I joined her - immediately she said that she would be delighted. She even supplied me with a litter picker, courtesy of 18 | Sherborne Times | April 2021
her friend and long-time Sherborne litter campaigner, Anthony Vosper. So, the next day, feeling a bit apprehensive as to what sort of reaction I would get, we set off. Honestly, I had no need to worry whatsoever. The words of encouragement and thanks we received were simply uplifting. Having walked for well over an hour and collected four bags of rubbish between us, I went home feeling so incredibly positive. Important to note that we use bags that we can empty during our walk into one of the dozens, maybe hundreds, of litter bins that are in Sherborne. I then simply take my empty bag home and rinse it out to be used again. This saves just yet another bag going into landfill. My eight-year-old son Charlie spotted my litter picker. Unbeknown to me he had persuaded his mum to buy him one last year. Probably, knowing Charlie, not to pick up litter, but rather as a robot arm for one
