Epping Forest Litter Bugs

Recently I have been on a mission to clean up the litter in my local area and I need help from local people. The aim of the group is to tackle litter blackspots in Tonbridge and the surrounding area, especially around local woods, paths, parks and local playgrounds. Litter can be harmful to wildlife, and its not nice to see when walking in the local park with my son. I want to organise local litter picking/clean up days to improve the local environment for everyone. In times when the local councils are cutting funds for street cleaners the litter problem will be sure to get worse, we all have a responsibility to improve our local environment. If we all protected the environment from littering it would improve the area for everyone. If you have any questions please email me. Thanks. Sara

To create a community keen to contribute to keep our parks clear of rubbish. To encourage people to take responsibility for litter regardless of how it go there. To create a local voice for protecting and improving our environment.

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.

Killamarsh village and surrounding areas

Friends of Riverside Park was set up following a failed attempt to build a water park on the land which is owned by East Sussex County Council & Lewes District Council and now known as Riverside Park, Newhaven. The site was up until the late 1970s/early 1980s a landfill site for the town. Once the site was full to capacity it was capped and left to nature. We now have a wonderful array of wildlife and recently funds were spent by the local Councils to make improvements including a properly laid circular path, benches dotted around the park, a bird viewing platform, owl nest box and various hibernacula and scrapes. Scrub has been managed to improve the quality of the soil. All this has been done with the help and assistance of the Friends of Riverside Park who work as a go-between the Community who use the Park and the Councils. As part of our ongoing support we organise monthly litter picks to safeguard the natural environment & are making other small improvements to the area including more litter bins and hopefully seating.

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE)

Our first litter pick took place in November 2016. People stopped their cars & asked how to get involved, more have joined since. We live in a beautiful area & want to get rid of the litter which spoils the countryside. 6 Local businesses & 2 village residents have sponsored us & we now all have our own equipment (not borrowed from the District Council) Our hi-vis vests have a litter picking logo on the back & the Sponsor's name on the front. Our Parish Council support us by insuring us and a local garage has offered assistance.

Ilminster Forum is the local regeneration group that helps implement community projects for the benefit of the town and its residents identified through the Community Plan.

A gathering of volunteers who meet in the painted bus shelter in High Bentham at 1pm on 13th of each month. We spend an hour or so litter-picking, weeding, planting or generally clearing up around our market town. We also put pressure on the Town Council or District Council when we come across something that we need to tackle in partnership with a larger, more official body.

Anstey Litterpickers are simply fed up with the amount of discarded McDonalds and KFC wrappers, beer cans, fag packets etc thrown out of car windows along the lovely country roads around Anstey and Charnwood. We just want to do something about it!