After an appeal by Rushcliffe Borough Council, a popular Ruddington Facebook group, which offers information and advice for village parents, has pledged to join in with this year’s ‘Great British Spring Clean’.
The campaign, run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, aims to further clean up streets, parks and beaches across our country – between now and April 23rd – and expects to see around half a million people taking action in the nation’s biggest mass-action environmental campaign.
Here in Rushcliffe, town and parish councils were contacted to spread the message to groups and individuals to organise litter picks to support the effort – with all the necessary equipment available from ground maintenance contractors Streetwise Environmental Services Limited.
Laura Ratcliffe of Ruddington Mums says: “We can do our bit! I have been in contact with Streetwise to say that some of our community want to help. They can supply all the equipment required and asked about the same for kids – as I think involving the children will really get our children to understand consequences of dropping litter and not caring about their own environment. Streetwise hadn’t considered kids until then but have responded saying that they have ordered childrens equipment following my request, so it looks like we are all set to go! I would really appreciate any community members/whole families who can give some time up on Wednesday 17th April to spend some time litter picking to help this Keep Britain Tidy Campaign.”
If you’d like to join in locally, please contact Laura asap via their Facebook page, on Twitter or by emailing ruddmums@icloud.com.
Rushcliffe Borough Council’s Executive Manager for Neighbourhoods Dave Banks says: “We know many local groups already run fantastic regular efforts in their part of the Borough but we now want even more people to get involved as part of this dedicated few weeks of action. Streetwise will arrange for any waste collected to be removed. Streetwise will also be carrying out additional cleansing of the main high streets in our town centres as part of the campaign.”
Keep Britain Tidy Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton adds: “The Great British Spring Clean is an opportunity for the millions of people who care about the environment on their doorstep to do something positive that will make a visible difference. We are delighted that Rushcliffe Borough Council is supporting this year’s campaign and would like to thank them for their support. Without councils across the country giving the campaign their backing, our volunteers would not be able to do the incredible job they do.”
UPDATE 17th April 2019
Over 30 local litter-pickers – many of them children – turned up to our Village Green at ten o’clock this morning to pose for media photos {top picture} and then spent a couple of hours collecting and bagging rubbish around Ruddington in some glorious Easter sunshine.
Laura Ratcliffe, of Ruddington Mums, told RUDDINGTON.info that she was overwhelmed by the turnout by parents with their children: “I’d now like to do this every school holiday, if there’s a need for it! It gives the kids something to do, gets them out and about walking, keeping fit and cleaning the community. Also, hopefully children will realise that there are consequences if they drop rubbish – concentrating on tidying up their own specific areas of the village.”
In 2018 around 370,000 #LitterHeroes collected more than 630,000 bags of rubbish across Britain, and it’s hoped to do even better this year. You can find out more about the Great British Spring Clean nationally by visiting www.keepbritaintidy.org.
