Community Litter Pick

COMMUNITY LITTER PICK

Aborough-wide litter pick organised by Newcastle Borough Council has contributed to anational initiative beating its ambitious target to make one million miles of British outdoor spaces cleaner and greener.

Schools, businesses and community volunteers in Newcastle-under-Lyme rolled up their sleeves and spent 72,000 minutes safely collecting more than 100 bags of rubbish from streets, neighbourhoods, parks and open spaces –covering 3,600 miles in the process –during the recent Great British Spring Clean initiative.

The annual campaign, run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, aims to improve public places by cutting litter and this year covered 1.16 million miles.

In addition to co-ordinating the events, the borough council provided hi-vis vests, litter pickers and bags for 1,200 people before removing the rubbish and recycling it where possible. One area of focus was themineral line in Silverdale where apushchair was found among the trees.

Womble Orinoco paid visits to the following schools to thank them for their hard work – Dove Bank Primary School, Kidsgrove; Churchfields PrimarySchool, Chesterton; Ellison Primary Academy, Wolstanton; the Coop Academy Friarswood, Newcastle; Hugo Meynell Primary School, Loggerheads; The RichardHeathcote Community Primary School, Alsagers Bank; Silverdale Primary Academy, St. John Fisher Catholic College, Newcastle;St. Margaret’s Junior School, Wolstanton and Thursfield Primary School, Harriseahead.

The businesses involved were WJ North Ltd based in Knutton, McDonald’s Dimsdale and Goose Street Morrisons.

Councillor Trevor Johnson, Cabinet member for environment and recycling at the council, said: “Litter is amajor problem and has a negative impact on our neighbourhoods. “Even though people shouldn’t drop it in the first place, we’re keen to support residents and businesses who want to help create acleaner and greener borough for everyone to enjoy.”

Cllr Johnson added: “Everyone who took part in the Great British Spring Clean did a brilliant job and they should be very proud of their efforts. “It’s fantastic to hear that the children really enjoyed helping their local environment.”