Important:   Litter can be contaminated, so we have put together some information to help you handle it safely. Please click on this link to have a read through our Health and Safety Guidance before you go out litter-picking.

 

WDNAC Spinney Lakes mini-pick

Northfield Avenue,Kettering,nn16 9hu

23 Sep 2017

23:00

Yesterday my brother and I had a day's fishing at Spinney lakes in Wellingborough. We walked down the River Nene to Ditchford, picking up the unfortunately ubiquitous Tyskie, Lech and Specjal beer cans and plastic water bottle as we went. When we left, we did a quick pick of the area either side of the entrance gates, collecting McDonald's wrappers, cups, cans and the usual blanket of plastic bottles and wrappers. It was all recycled when we got home, so even though we didn't see 1 fish in 3 miles of river, we did leave it better than we found it..

upcoming Events

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past Events

Wicksteed Park lake cleanup

Today I spent 3 hours pulling 7kg of mostly plastic, out of the lake and river Ise at Wickstwed park in Kettering. Found a bra, some jogging bottoms and lots of Hippie crack cannisters, haaaa. I rec...

2018 1 Tonne sponsored River Plastics Clean-Up campaign

This year's 1 Ton campaign will focus on the chronic plastic pollution in the River Nene and River Ise. Following the recent Blue planet documentary on marine plastic pollution and its effect on life ...

A14 Verges of insanity, you Crazy truck, dodging, mayhem litterpick

On Tuesday, I'll be on the verge of insanity, when I clean up the A14 between Pytchley road and the leisure village. If I survive, I'll be sure to post my brain back to Apple for a much needed update...

RIVER ISE 'DON'T BOTTLE IT' CLEAN-UP

I'll be mud larking during the 11th litter pick of the 2018 river campaign on Wednesday 6th. I'll be starting with using the 6ft picker to clean-up the multiple blockages on the surface of the River I...

Kettering Arena leisure village lake super pick

We'll be picking the Slade brook and verges of the KLV lake. I believe it's also being filmed by the Beeb.. On Wednesday, I will do the very stupid thing of trying to finally begin the clean up of t...

Slade brook clean up 9th pick 2018 1 Tonne River plastics clean-up

I'll be out and about in the Slade brook on Northfield Avenue, testing out my new 6ft long, monster, Helping hands Streetmaster. The only picker which allows the plucking of feathers from the underbel...

Slade brook Malham Drive to Leisure Village river clean up

During the 8th pick of the 2018 one tonne River Clean-Up event, I've decided it would be better to do a pick of the Slade brook, prior to the Leisure village pick, next week. Obviously picking upstre...

Willowbrook lake and River Nene Thrapston mini litter pick

Today, me and a colleague from Asda fished the Nene at Thrapston and the Willowbrook fishery lake adjacent to the stone bridge on Bridge Street. This is the 6th pick of the 2018 1 Tonne River Clean-...

Burton pocket park mini pick

On Thursday 07th March, me and a friend went fishing along the Ise between Burton Pocket park and Finedon road. During our walk, we picked up about 1KG of plastic bottles from the river and a bread b...

River Ise East bank clean up Barton Seagrave

Hopefully I'll be completing the clean up of the River Ise between Wicksteed's park and South Farm Marsh SSSI on Monday. The river is heaving with flotsam and jetsam especially around the high water ...

Asda Kettering woodland winter clean-up

The woodland, behind Asda, is no doubt in need of a good clean by now, so I'll be hitting it whilst being clocked in, on the 27th at 8am. The Asda entrance road slip way down to the Sladbrook has bec...

Ringstead mini pick

Whilst attempting to fish in the heaviest rain of the year, me and a friend picked about 20 pieces of plastic from the donut and the river/lake section. Mostly historical litter, but there were a fe...

Cambridge line River Ise west bank clean up

Today, following the robbery of an Asda colleague who was fishing in South Farm marsh SSSI, loosing his rod and reel to 3 eastern europeans, I decided to clear some of the rubbish that has been left ...

2017 Ton of litter challenge

The previous 18 months has been very tough with 3 deaths of immediate family members and a triple portion of life changing health news, so I haven't been able to get out and pick. After getting throu...

Kettering to Wellingborough A509 pick.

Having recently driven the A509 to Wellingborough, the tipping point has been reached and we've decided to clean up the verges. Unfortunately we've been discouraged from doing this by the local clean...

Barnwell Plantation, Pilton and Aldwinkle verges litterpick 2017

During my day off work, I'll be trying to improve roadside litter around Aldwinkle, picnic litter in the plantation near Barnwell village and hopefully the two fields which adjoing the Pilton to Lilfo...

ASDA Kettering Flytipping 18th 1 Tonne pick

We've had numerous complaints about the flytipping incident in the top corner of the Asda Kettering carpark. Basically a company has taken on the garden centre and a skip appeared and was filled. Fo...

Thrapston Drayton Estate Nene green corridor litter pick 17th 1 Tonne event

Today I got a chance to do some fishing on the River Nene, at the Grange Farm fishery(part of the Willowbrook complex), between Bridge Street and the A14 bridge in Thrapston. On my return, I collect...

Malham Drive woodland clean up or Tidy up Asda's rubbish, because they won't! 16th 1 T event 2017

Amanda McDade recently emailed a request from local councillor Ashley Davies, to hold a pick of the woodlands between Asda and Malham Drive. We will be spending a day on Saturday the 26th August, gett...

Northfield Ave Slade Brook corridor clean up 15th event in the 2017 1 tonne

Spent 10 hours on my day off picking from Lower Street, up to Cunliffe Drive. I manage to remove 2 trolleys, 80KG of litter in total, which included about 400 pieces of McDonald's packaging and a ba...

Last pick A43 Corby link road, Kettering end 14th 1 tonne event

Next Tuesday I'll hopefully be able to finally complete the A43 Corby link Road clean-up. It has been a monumental picking challenge, taking 6 days of picking, comprising over 35 hours of picking on ...

Wadenhoe reserve 13th 1 Tonne eventlitter pick

I took a walk around Wadenhoe to check for illegal fishing and litter, collecting 10KG in 1 bag. I managed to walk through to below Wadenhoe house and collect a plastic tray that I'd left in the bus...

Pilton 12th pick 1 Tonne event

Had a few hours picking the Pilton drove road and up to Lilford and either side of the river. Lots of plastic removed from the river and its banks, so the wildlife have a better place to live. I co...

River Ise clean up Cambridge line stretch 11th 1 Tonne pick 2017

Picked on several days, around the banks of the Ise, so lots of plastic removed that would of blown in and ended up in the stomachs of seabirds and fish.

Corby link road penultimate pick 10th mini event 1 Tonne

Today I picked the penultimate section of the Corby link road, mostly wooded verges, between the Rockingham road roundabout and the old farm ruins behind Harvester. This was a gruelling pick, deep cl...

Wadenhoe and Pilton quick pick 9th 1 Tonne pick

I took a drive around Wadenhoe and Pilton today, walking the nature reserve and picking the Wadenhoe to Pilton road and the Pilton to the A605 road. I collected 1 10KG bag and a gas cylinder, from W...

Kgh landfill pick 8th 1 Tonne event

Hopefully I'll be getting some extra help from Neil and a few others from work, for this monster pick of the woodland adjacent to Kgh. It is full of trolleys and huge amount of rubbish, so we're hopin...

Asda perimeter and Northfield Ave pick 7th pick

Unfortunately my Grand mother died yesterday, so wasn't in the most eager of moods. However, I did get out today and did a pick of the Asda perimeter fence and the Slade brook corridor/path along Nor...

Kettering A43 link road 6th 1 Tonne pick

On Wedneday, I'll be returning to the A43 link road for the 3rd pick, this time cleaning up the Kettering end. Last week we ran out of bags, so hopefully I'll have a fresh supply, so that I can clear ...

River Ise Barton clean-up 5th 1 Tonne event

Today we cleaned up the banks and bed of the River Ise in Barton Seagrave. Unfortunately the building of new houses by Redrow homes, has pretty much ruined what was an SSSCI. A constant flow of dog ...

Kettering A43 link road 4th 1 Tonne pick-middle stretch

Today I started picking at 7am, cleaning up the middle stretch of the A6186 link road. It was numb fingers and toes time for a few hours but the sun came out later and it turned in to a really nice d...

Wadenhoe fishing 3rd litter pick

This morning I set out early and did a quick clear up of several swims around Wadenhoe. It was only one bag and there was a bit more to collect, but I'll give it a few weeks and give it a deep clean....

Great British Spring Clean 2nd 1 Tonne pick

Today we'll be picking the pedestrian path and green verges of the Slade brook on Northfield Avenue. This event coincides with the Kettering Rotary club's pick of the Railway Station to Lower Street....

A43 Link road pick 1st 1 Tonne pick

On Thursday we'll be commencing the 2017 1 Tonne Litter pick by doing a pick of the heavily littered A43 link road between Weekley and Rockingham Road. It's looking like a bit of a litter carpet, so ...

Barnwell country park and Dutchess lake pick

Today we visited Barnwell Country Park and also the Nene up to Barnwell lower lock. We picked 2KG of litter from the banks, mostly at the lock again. Most of the litter seems to be from boaters, wi...

Ringstead WDNAC litter pick

Had a few hours around the WDNAC fishery at Ringstead today, plenty of Roach and a Bream, and 1 bag of litter from the Donut, Serpent and the River Nene up to the weir towards Irthlingborough. A very...

Wadenhoe and Barnwell clean up

As part of our ongoing aim to keep the River Nene corridor clean and safe for both wildlife and the public, Wadenhoe reserve and the river from Barnwell mill, up to the Oundle lock were picked during ...

Wadenhoe nature reserve and Manor farm verges clean-up

Unfortunately this morning we had to remove more litter from Wadenhoe reserve, with the same swim at the point, suffering each week from beer cans and angling litter. Illegal fishing and drinking on ...

Cobden Street rubbish

Lots of rubbish has built up in this street, despite increased council picks being promised. Today I cleared up what I could, but unfortunately didn't have the equipment to dispose of the drug needle...

Harold

Whilst out and about fishing, we came across a full sack of litter, dumped in the undergrowth adjacent to the Harold bridge at the River Ouse between Harold and Carlton. I managed to clear quite a fe...

Wadenhoe mini pick/illegal theft of fish.

Wadenhoe nature reserve is a regular haunt of illegal poachers who leave a large amount of Polish Lager cans. After talking to a local dog walker, apparently organised groups of these people have be...

Westfield Park mini pick

On the way back from the dentist, the top of Westfield Park had been heavily littered by McDonald's customers and drunks. I did an unplanned pick, putting the rubbish in the council bins. Then walki...

Wadenhoe clean up

Today during a fishing trip, I did a pick of all the swims on Wadenhoe nature reserve. A shocking amount of litter was discovered, considering I only cleared it 2 weeks ago. After clearing a whole b...

Asda Kettering woodland winter clean-up

It has been a good while since I last cleaned the woodland which soaks up a great deal of our packaging litter. The cut-through, which sits between our petrol station and the carehome in the Furnace ...

WADENHOE NATURE RESERVE FLY TIPPING PICK

During a few hours of early morning fishing today, I stumbled upon a flytipping site, in the bushes adjacent to the top lock at Wadenhoe. Luckily I'd put several large council litter sacks and a help...

2015 1 Metric Ton litter pick for KGH Charity Fund and KTDA

This year's sponsored 1 Ton litter pick has kicked off with 135KG collected from the Northfield Avenue Slade brook green corridor. I picked for 8 hours and had a really enjoyable day in the gorgeous s...

clearing other people's stuff up.

No-one reads this, so what's the point writing about it. Picking up more rubbish basically. No-one reads this, so what's the point writing about it. Picking up more rubbish basically.

7TH Mini event-Slade Brook clean up

Spent the morning, between 7.30am and 11am, getting the brook back to a good state, picking the water course, banks and paths, between McDonalds and Lower Street bridge. The biggest issue was caused ...

6th mini-event 1 Ton litter pick- A43 link road to Boughton House

We'll be starting at Rockingham road and picking through along the A43 link road and on to the Boughton House wall as far as Geddington.

5th Mini event in the 2015 1 Ton litter pick

We'll be coming back for the third and hopefully final time to clear the woodland adjacent to the Rothwell Rd. railway bridge. Hopefully I'll go on to pick the A43 link road, Boughton house wall and ...

2015 Spring Pick.-KGH 4th mini event-woodland pick.

In the fourth pick of the 2015 1 Ton pick for Kettering Angling Association, we'll be continuing our clean up of the Northfield Ward. Starting at Hill Street, we'll be clearing the Slade Brook up to f...

1 Ton Litter pick 3rd sub-event

The Asda Kettering sponsored 1 Ton litter pick, continued in our community this week, seeing Neil and I clearing the riverbanks near our store. This year we are raising much needed funds for Ketterin...

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Having talked to local residents recently, the extent of the litter at the Kettering General Hospital site on Rothwell Rd. was highlighted as a major concern. After a visit this week, I've seen exactl...

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This morning we will be getting out and about in the Northfield ward, concentrating on litter picking up the usual spots, which haven't had a proper clean since the culmination of our 1 Ton litter pic...

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To mark the 4th Anniversary of the opening of Asda in Kettering, I will be collecting 5 Kilograms for every week that the store has been in operation, totaling 1 metric ton of litter removed from our ...

Sixth Mini-Event in the 2014 1 Ton litter pick

As we approach our ultimate goal of 1000KG, we'll be clearing the woods between us and the railway track. I've got about 8 volunteers, so should be a quick job. I'll then be finishing up the job on th...

5TH Mini-Event of the 1 Ton litter pick 2014

In the 5th pick of our 2014 1 Ton Litter pick for Children In Need, we will complete cleaning up the A43 link road, moving on to the wall around Boughton House, the A6003 Corby road, the Glendon to Ro...

4th Mini-Event of the 2014 1 Ton Litter Pick

Today, we're going to tackle the ever present litter on the A43 link Road, between the A6003 Corby Road and the A43 Geddington Road. This will be the 4th event so far in the 1 Ton sponsored pick for B...

3rd Mini-event of 1 Ton Litter Pick 2014

Today, Friday 24th of October, I will be focusing on the woodland behind the Asda store on Northfield Avenue in Kettering. This site has received much attention in the past, due to the high volume of ...

2nd mini event of the 1 Ton litter pick.

Today, 22nd of October, our group hit the Slade Brook, between Lower Street and Dyson Drive. Although the pick started off with the intention of just sprucing up the work we did a few weeks ago, in th...

ASDA KETTERING "GIVING BACK BY TAKING AWAY" 1 TON CHARITY LITTER PICK 1ST Mini-Event

To kick off the 1 Ton Children In Need charity pick this year, we'll be clearing the wooded area behind the Asda petrol station and then moving on to the Slade Brook green corridor along Northfield Av...

Wadenhoe reserve litter pick

On the 2nd of September, I had a walk around Wadenhoe Island and the SSSI, collecting a bag of rubbish. Most of the litter was Angler's tins and plastic, tucked away in the adjacent undergrowth, which...

Northfield Ave green corridor clean-up

Since the 1 ton Tidy-up at the end of last year, litter has been gathering strength along Northfield Avenue and especially around Maddison apartments, due to litterbugs using the bridge to get to Hill...

ASDA 1 TON TIDY-UP CHARITY CHALLENGE

In the spirit of Asda's continuing commitment to positively engage within the community of which it is part, Colleagues at the Northfield Avenue store have taken up the challenge to remove 1 metric to...

Boughton House wall clean-up

On the 20th June, as part of the Asda Kettering 1 ton Tidy-Up, we will be finally taking on the litter which has collected around the perimeter walls of Boughton House. In addition, we will also do ou...

Kettering Angling association litterpick

In conjunction with Kettering, Thrapston and district Angling Association, our group will be addressing the big problem of flotsam and jetsam being deposited on the low banks of the Slade and Ise. Thi...

Asda Kettering 2013 Spring clean.

Our group will be tackling the litter problems that are particularly bad beneath the Madison apartments and behind the petrol station at Asda. Hopefully the weather will hold back and we'll do some go...

Asda Kettering woodland litterpick.

Diane, the community colleague at Asda in Kettering, has organised a litter pick on 12th September to clear up the heavy litter problem in the Woodlands which separate the petrol station from the new ...

Northfield Avenue summer spruce up

SeeItPickItBinIt will be holding a two day 'Summer Spruce Up' event, aiming to make a positive change to the litter problem in Kettering and Burton Latimer. Northfield Avenue, especially aro...

Wicksteed lake margins litterpick

This month's clean-up will aim to tackle the environmentally damaging plastics, which are thrown and blown into the boating lake at Kettering's Wicksteed Park. As part of our weekly environmental p...

ASDA KETTERING WINTER TRASH DASH

StAndrews Community green corridor, winter litter pick. Colleagues at Asda in Kettering will be concentrating on the wooded area behind the petrol station, as well as the strip of land between the sto...

Wicksteed Park river clean up

Litter removal on the river Ise and boating lake at Wicksteed Park. 1st and 13 JULY 2011 On the 1st and 13th of July, we concentrated on cleaning in and around the boating lake at Wicksteed Park. A go...

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Asda in Kettering will be cleaning up the wildlife corridor, formed by the course of the Slade Brook, between 6am and 11am on June the 10th. This month's efforts will focus on the stretch between the ...

ASDA litter pick

STANDREW'S COMMUNITY SPRING CLEAN LITTER PICK SATURDAY 26TH MARCH- 10AM Kettering, Northamptonshire. St Andrew's ward community litter pick will be held between 10am and 12 mid-day, on Saturda...

Nearby Groups

These groups are near to you in case you want to contact them for advice, to offer them support or, for example, to share equipment with them.

Bute Wombles
We are a small group of Volunteers passionate about keeping our Town and Country clean. We get out and about most days collecting rubbish from our hedgerows, parks and walks. We are happy to work with other local groups and organisations including educational talks and bringing awareness to this problem we have in our Towns and Country. Must of us within the group have mental health problems and or unseen disabilities and discovered walking and hiking helps with our day to day depression and anxiety and by collecting rubbish on our walks also gives us purpose and feelings of achievement. You will find us on Facebook
47
55 years
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Kingstone Guides
Our local guide unit would like to arrange at least one, if not two litter picking days in our village per year. I would like to know where to get the picker sticks from and vests etc
0
55 years
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1st Bovingdon Scout Group
1st Bovingdon Beavers, Cubs and Scouts are going to take an active role in the community and help clean up the surrounding area.
2
6 years
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Buxton Litter Picking Group
We are a group of like minded individuals which operate under the umbrella of the Buxton Town Team. We meet once a month on the first Sunday of the month at 11am-1pm. Check out the Buxton Town Team Facebook Page for where to meet as it changes every month, or email me stoop.farm@btinternet.com
0
9 years
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The Rudloe Mob
We are not really a group! We are a loose alliance! We started as dog walkers and photographers back in the 70s. I would be walking with our hound and stop to take a picture only to find that foreground rubbish had to be removed. This led to always taking bags for rubbish whenever I went out. For larger items (fly-tips etc) I would move them to a suitable roadside location and call the council who were (and are) very obliging. My “comrades” would do the same. This has been going on ever since (our last dog departed some years ago but the walking and photography continue).

My current (well actually for many years) “bete noire” is bagged dog crap. Twas quite funny, some years ago we had a serial crap flinger - it was everywhere: undergrowth, behind walls, brambles, trees etc. So, one weekend we decided to have a blitz on the stuff. We found about 250 bags in the undergrowth along Leafy Lane, over 100 in one location behind a dry stone wall and so on - a total of around 700 bags altogether. I was walking down my road with a bin bag of bagged dog crap over each shoulder when a neighbour stopped me and asked what I had in the bags! Since that time he and his wife have been inveterate litter pickers. The bagged dog crap problem continues. I have picked up about 30 in various locations over the past couple of weeks (this statement will be approximately true whenever you are reading this!). I used to think that this was just one halfwit on the loose, but it appears that this extraordinary behaviour is common practice. I believe (and I have written to Wilts CC about this) that the socially-acceptable practice of bagging dog crap, binning it and dumping it into landfill is an aberration. We have programmes on TV where ologists of various kinds look at ancient middens to find out how people lived. What will future ologists think of our society?

“Look - they used to wrap up their dog crap and bury it - how weird!”

Talking of weird, an odd incident occurred during my 23 Jan 2012 pick-up. I had a good bin-bag full of rubbish which I was attempting to stuff into the waste bin at Northleaze Mobile Home Park when one of a posse of locals shouted over “Oi - what do you think you’re doing?”. A small exchange ensued during which I explained that this was at least a weekly occurrence and I was tidying-up THEIR environment. But they were having none of it - “You can’t do that”, one said. I should say that this lady did offer to put the rubbish in her own bin but by this time the bin-bag was ripped and taking it out again would have seen the rubbish spilled on the ground. Anyway, their objection seemed to be one of possession - it was their bin! This would be fair enough if the bin was ever used but every time I deposit rubbish in that bin, it is empty (as it was on this occasion). It seems that they want theoretical of the bin without ever using it! Anyway my bin-bag was stuffed into the bin; the bin was emptied by the council the next morning and I stuffed a further bag of rubbish into it later that day. It is odd that no account is taken of rubbish lying in the street but clearance of that same rubbish invokes local disapproval!

Another anecdote - for many years, on Sunday mornings when out walking the dog, I would find an empty bottle of South African white wine (always South African) and an empty (70cl) bottle of vodka tightly knotted into a Tescos plastic bag in the lay-by in White Ennox Lane. What a wild time they must have had and what an interesting drive home.

The bizarre things you find when out collecting rubbish! Today, 25 Nov 2012, it was the “Bath & Wells Diocesan News”, No 264, December 1980 (see pic)! This was by the bus stop at the top of Box Hill. I can imagine the Bishop of Bath & Wells waiting for the bus in his vestments with his mitre and crosier (or is that Catholic bishops?) and unfortunately dropping his News on boarding the bus. One of the News items was the 1980 General Synod at which a major issue would be the ordination of women! Now, thirty-two years on, the Synod has been voting on women bishops. What a slow-moving organisation the C of E is!

By the way, the 20,000 or so bags picked up is an estimate, but probably a conservative one. My weekly pick-up is about 8 bags - 8x52x32(years) is about 13,000. I am, no doubt, doing a great disservice to the rest of the Mob in estimating their input as only 7,000 bags - watch out for the update.

The following table started in 2012, which I will try to update regularly, gives an idea of the scale of the ‘problem’.

1 Jan 2012: B3109, Skynet Drive, field edge 4+bags+mattress - called Wilts CC
2 Jan 2012: Leafy Lane, woods and playing fields, 5 bags
3 Jan 2012: Boxfields Road, Box Hill Common 3 bags+ fly tip - called Wilts CC
4 Jan 2012: Quarry Hill, 3 bags + bagged dog crap (BDC)
5 Jan 2012: B3109, A4 to Hare & Hounds 5 bags+ BDC (7 bags)
6 Jan 2012: Leafy Lane & A4 towards Corsham, 5 bags
7 Jan 2012: B3109, Skynet Drive, Park Lane, 4 bags+ BDC
8 Jan 2012: A4 towards Box, 2 bags
9 Jan 2012: B3109 & A4 towards Corsham, 4 bags
12 Jan 2012: Boxfields Road 1 bag+ small fly tip - called Wilts CC
16 Jan 2012: B3109 & A4 towards Corsham, 4 bags
17 Jan 2012: B3109, Skynet Drive, The Carriage Drive, Pound Mead, 7 bags
23 Jan 2012: B3109 & A4 towards Corsham, 3 bags + BDC
24 Jan 2012: B3109 & A4 towards Corsham, 2 bags
28 Jan 2012: Leafy Lane & B3109 from small Fiveways towards Corsham, 1 bag
7 Feb 2012: B3109 and A4 towards Corsham, 1 bag
8 Feb 2012: Leafy Lane and woodland, 2 bags
12 Feb 2012: A4 towards Box, 4 bags
13 Feb 2012: Rudloe Firs and A4 towards Corsham 10 bags (and still stuff remaining)
13 Feb 2012: (later) B3109, 2 bags
21 Feb 2012: B3109, 1 bag
23 Feb 2012: B3109, Leafy Lane, Leafy Lane Playing Fields, 14 bags

Okay, I guess you get the picture so with one month being very much like another I will discontinue the diary. This is a week-on-week, year-on-year occupation. The last pick-up listed above is instructive though - let me elaborate .. Leafy Lane Playing Fields is a 20 acre site at the south-eastern edge of the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Its users include football clubs, cricket clubs etc but the principal user is AFC Corsham who do an outstanding job in providing opportunities for young people to play football. AFC Corsham runs 15 teams for youngsters between the ages of around 5 to 15/16. You can imagine therefore the number of youngsters provided for and the scores of parents who ferry their charges back and forth from home to ground and back. All fine BUT it appears that not one of the committee, managers and coaches, parents or others gives a hoot about the enormous piles of litter which are left to accumulate week after week. Rather than an AONB, Leafy Lane Playing Fields resembles a rubbish tip. The Rudloe Mob has an onslaught on the accumulation every couple of months or so. Of the 14 bags collected on 23rd February 2012, 10 came from the playing fields and this was just the tip of the iceberg (see photographs of some of what still remains). The state of the playing fields is, I believe, representative of the state of Britain. A 20-acre site frequented by a community of users who deposit rubbish then cheerfully wander through that same rubbish without giving it a second thought. With regard to litter, whether it is at community or national level, in general “we” couldn’t care less.

In the eighties “that cow” (as described by our local MP at the time, the 6th Earl of Kilmorey or Sir Richard Needham) appointed Richard Branson as the uncrowned king of litter - see this 2005 Guardian article on the subject https://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2005/sep/24/comment - but his campaign along with all others, like the long-established Keep Britain Tidy, failed or is failing. It is not good enough to have high-profile personalities, photo-shoots and high-salaried executives with meaningless job descriptions - take a look at the job description for the £40k plus Head of Communications and Marketing at Keep Britain Tidy:

OUTCOMES TO BE DELIVERED
*Implementation and delivery of the five year communications strategy and annual action plan
*Enhanced reputation of Keep Britain Tidy and its sub-brands
*Senior management feel supported through provision of strategic advice and guidance
*New income streams developed, for example, from behaviour change campaigns
*Stakeholders strategically managed and influenced
*Resources managed effectively within budget to meet to customer demand
*Visible leadership to the relevant communications teams as well as across the wider organisation
*Enhanced profile of the organisation with the relevant audiences
*Public membership scheme developed and successfully implemented, when agreed

Talk about Nero fiddling while Rome burns! We are drowning in a sea of rubbish! You can see the outcome of almost 60 years of Keep Britain Tidy in the small community area covered by this Litteraction webpage. YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO GET OUT THERE AND PICK UP RUBBISH -REGULARLY!
20750
55 years
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Canoeing
Osterly lock
0
2 years
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Collie Collections
Currently most of the work is done by my Border Collie who collects crisp and other wrappers and plastic bottles. She then finds the nearest waste bin and puts the litter in it. She has been doing this for the past 5 years.
27
13 years
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Gamston Litter Pickers
Rubbish disposal and fly tipping is becoming an increasing problem nationally compounded by reduced services across the counties. Many communities are taking it upon themselves to get out and tidy up their local areas by grabbing a bag and a litter picker and spending an hour or so in their immediate local area picking up discarded rubbish. If you are interested in meeting up once a month then please come along on the third Saturday, and together we can make a difference to rubbish and fly tipping in our area. All equipment is provided, including ‘kids kits’ so that children can participate safely too. We meet at 10am at the Gamston Village Hall and are out for a maximum of 2 hours. The monthly litter picking is in Gamston but the equipment is available for all residents of the villages of Adbolton, Bassingfield, Gamston and Holme Pierrepont to use.
321
6 years
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Pick it up Ponty
It seems to be the case that littering is becoming more of a problem in recent years and something needs to be done to address this! Please contact If you wish to get involved :)
0
55 years
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The Nantwich Pickers
Our aim is to ensure that Arnold Street and the surrounding area is as litter free as possible. Me and my two sons (4 and 6 years old) feel very passionately about protecting the environment and will do our bit!
0
5 years
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Start a LitterAction group

Here at CleanupUK, we want to help you to take LitterAction! Wherever you live in the UK, forming your own community litter-picking group will help to keep your community safer, more friendly and free of litter. It’s lots of fun too. Why not muck in and join us?

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