Brighter Uckfield

Test description \\ \" \'

Clacton-on-Sea, Seafront and immediate areas.

Litter picking wherever we go. Sometimes solo or small and large organised group cleans.

Hi, I'm Holly and I'm starting out litter picking to help make the area I live in cleaner and more attractive. I walk to work some days and I always marvel at how much rubbish there is, especially after bin collection days and it stays on the streets for weeks, so I wanted to do something about it! Alone but hopefully not for long, I have started picking litter in my area to make it a cleaner and more enjoyable place for everyone. I hope as I get more experience at this I can rally together the troops to start a regular litter picking group to help out and clean up Sopwell! If you'd be interested in joining me, you can send me an email to meet up and arrange a litter picking date. Tel. 07857 944 443 Email. Cleanupsopwell@outlook.com

Our aim is to clear the roadsides of litter and keep our villages looking spick and span.

This group was set up to encourage individuals to litter pick in their own streets. We now meet in groups and attend organised events to spread the word.

I have a holiday residence and appreciate all that all the DD's do to help keep the area litter free and welcoming. When in Bournemouth I would like to do my bit to help.

We collect litter in a relatively informal way in the area around Nomansland Common.

The A3057 and A3090 are usually full of litter and the verges are only cleared infrequently - and in many places never. In the Summer it does not look so bad because of the grass - but come the Winter! A number of more minor roads are also left with litter because it would seem that Test Valley Borough Council only cares, if at all, about Andover and Romsey. The aim is to get Test Valley BC to do what it is required to do under the EPA for the district as a whole and not just the main urban areas.

Who are we? We are an environmental group undertaking planting in our village, litter picks, promoting reduction in Co2 and smart driving, and working with the local community to make our village a litter free area. We deliver over 1700 newsletters around our village promoting our message and work with Thringstone Primary School and the local brownie group various events, including a scarecrow festival in June 2011 which brought together all sectors of the community . We held another scarecrow event, in conjunction with Thringstone Methodists, on Saturday 6th July 2013. Our chairman litter picks daily, and is helped by others who litter pick regularly. We try, where possible, to recycle items which can be recycled. We petitioned for extra recycling bins in our village and now have two tin and plastic bottle recycling points and a glass recycling point, and are currently asking for the council to consider ways of recycling acceptable items put in roadside litter bins. Between February 2013 and the end of February 2014, we removed 1,958 bags of litter from the village and woodlands, which we feel is a staggering amount. We have also worked with other groups on environmental issues in the village, and were part of the steering group that saw Thringstone Youth Club win the Children and Young People\\\\\\\'s Green Footprints Award in 2011 for their mural project. We have taken over several flowerbeds and previously untidy and unused areas in the village for planting and offer historical and environmental walks around the village. Please see our website which is www.friends-of-thringstone.org.uk for further details on our group, plus details on our constitution, health and safety policy, equal opportunities policy, parental consent statements and volunteer expenses statement. You can also see on that site details of all our publications. What have we done? In 2009 we won the NW Leicestershire Green Footprints Awards, were awarded an outstanding achievement certificate by East Midlands In Bloom in 2009, and won a gold and silver in the village achievement awards run by the Rural Community Council. In 2010 and were finalists in the Community and Partnerships category of the NWLDC\\\\\\\'s Green Footprints Awards and again in 2013. In 2011 we won The Queen\\\\\\\'s Award for Voluntary Service, something of which we are very proud, especially since 2011 was the European Year of Volunteering,. In 2015 we won the Big Tidy Award at the Keep Britain Tidy Jubilee Awards 2015. In 2021 we won the Leicestershire Live Environmental Heroes Award and also won the Community Organisation Award 2021 with Leicestershire Community Champions. We have a facebook page, and we are also on twitter - address is @Thringstone2. In 2019, our chairman was awarded a British Empire Medal for service to Thringstone and in September 2019, her dog, who accompanied her on all her litter picks, was awarded a commendation from the PDSA.