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.

 

September Tidy

45 Dereham Rd,Honingham,Norwich,NR9 5AP

01 Sep 2012

23:00

Same time, same place Managed the complete village, and collected the usual 11 bags. Well done all.

upcoming Events

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past Events

Spring Pick

Meet at the Village Hall at 10 if you can make.

Post summer pick

As usual at 10am at the Village Hall 6 bags and a tyre rim. Not bad as it was 3 months since the last one...

Summer pick

Time .....10am Place.....Village Hall

June

Usual place, usual time Collected 10 bags, assorted metal and a hub cap

Spring pick

Meet at the village hall at 10am. POSTPONED DUE TO SNOW

New Year Pick

We picked 10 bags and a sign post and a car seat. Fridge and tyres in lay by now removed

November pick

Meeting at 10 at Village Hall We collected 10 bags, 1 tyre and 1 bucket.

Autumn tidy

Meet up at the Village Hall, 10am A grand total of 14 bags

Summer pickings

Usual time at the usual place..... 10am at the Village Hall unless you have made other arrangements. Thanks and wear sunhats! 16 bags collected, well done everyone

Spring Tidy

Meet at the Village Hall 10 am for a much needed tidy up Thanks to everyone's collective efforts we picked enough to fill 11 sacks. Great work everyone and I'll give notice of the next one in June.

Spring pick

A great pick in and around the village. Thanks to everyone's collective efforts we picked enough to fill 11 sacks. Great work everyone and I'll give notice of the next one in June.

Spring Clean

Meet as usual for a clean-up Another successful event - 10 sacks, a car wheel and a soiled pair of underpants. Well done all

August Session

Usual tour of the Village cleaning up after the "Tossers" Lovely hot day, super turnout, so we managed the full works and filled another 10 bags. We welcomed 2 new members, Carol & Ewan.

May clean-up

Meet as usual for a tour of the village, clearing up the McLitter before the verges get too overgrown. A lovely morning, and not as much rubbish as usual - has McDonalds closed????

New Year tidy

Grotty day, but a good turnout. We managed ti fill the usual dozen sacks. Thankyou McDonalds once again for your contribution - what would we do without you!!!

November womble

Meeting at the Village Hall 0945 for our usual tour of the village, and get it looking nice for Christmas. Conditions a bit difficult - tto many leaves hiding the litter. Managed to fill 6 bags, thoug...

Summer spruce up

Usual meet up at 0945 for the usual routes around the village. Despite the impending hurricane we managed to do the whole village and fill another 8 sacks, mainly with McDonalds rubbish as usual. Than...

June pick

Meet at Jubillee Cottage 0945 Lovely weather made the task almost a pleasure. Lovely to see the area looking good for a few hours, but I see this morning the first McRubbish has already been deposited...

March Tidy up

Meet as usual at the Village Hall 0945 Good turnout on a lovely sunny morning - almost a pleasure to clean up after the MacTossers!

New Year spruce-up

Meet at the Village Hall 945 am for the usual tour of the Village. A lovely break in the weather, so we managed a good turnout and a successful womble. 8 sacks filled this time. We also did a pick al...

Remember remember...

Usual arrangements - cu at the Village Hall 0945 Lovely day for a pick - fine and windy. Lots of fallen leaves but we managed to fill 8 sacks this time.

September Session

We may well cover some new ground this time. A bit thin on the ground this time, but we managed to clean up everywhere planned, plus tidying up the pathway to the church.

Summer cleanup

Good turnout, and managed to do the usual route. We are having reservations about the safety of picking along the Mattishall Road - very heavy and fast traffic - so we may well decide to leave this o...

May Event

Same time, same place. Welcome, Heidi & Simon, to our little group of wombles Great turnout, lovely weather! Amount of litter not as bad as usual (only six sacksfull this time). Are we winning?????? I...

Mad as March Hares

Meet at the Village Hall as usual. Time to get the village looking nice for Spring. Besides our usual route, we met up with some of the neighbouring Weston group to clean up along Wood Lane, which is ...

New Year Patrol

Covering the usual route around the village to pick up the seasonal rubbish. A good turnout on a damp, grey morning. We managed to collect 13 bags, plus a very wet £10 note. Obviously one of our re...

There'll be fireworks tomorrow!

Meet at the Village Hall 10 am as usual. What a horrible wet morning!!! Many thanks to the stalwarts who braved the conditions. Reduced numbers but we managed to cover the whole of the normal route - ...

July session

Meet as usual 0945 hrs Reduced numbers this time due to holiday absences, but we managed to spread ourselves and complete the circuit. Collected 8 bags and 2 tyres.

St George's Pick

St George's Day, so don't get cross. Time for us to be dragon ourselves around the village again with our sacks and pickers. A reduced squad, but we managed to do the whole circuit and fill 12 bags, p...

Wood Lane special

As Wood Lane is closed we are taking the opportunity to pick along this normally busy road. A lovely day for it. We managed to clear 18 sacks full, 2 tractor tyres, 13 car wheels/tyres, 2 roadsign fra...

VALENTINES Womble

Now that the snow has cleared, we will meet at the Village Hall 0945 as usual. Looks like plenty to do! What an amazing result! We put out a full team on a beautiful morning, and managed to get furthe...

Remember Remember...

Should be plenty of spent rockets to pick up today!!! Not many fireworks, but we filled 9 sacks, plus 2 tyres and a redundant road-sign. Another great turnout from villagers who obviously take a great...

Autumn Tidy

Autumn Tidy Lots of pickers on late summer hols, so a smaller number turned out this time. However we managed to cover the usual area, and filled 9 bags. Lots of MacRubbish from the ever present MacTo...

Summer Sruce-up

Only 8 bags this time - are we winning the battle? Blessings upon the driver who hooted at one of our pickers, slowed down, and threw some litter out of his car. What a cretin!!!

MAY WOMBLE

Meet as usual at the Village Hall 9.45. Perhaps we will be going a bit further afield this time.

May Womble

11 of us toured the usual routes around the village. Only 8 bags this time - are we winning?? Perhaps the MacDonalds Munchers don't need so much comfort food now the warmer weather is here???

Spring Tidy up

A record morning - 12 bags, 2 empty gas cylinders, 1 tyre and various car parts. As usual, lots of contributions from the McDonalds munchers!

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.

Northants Litter Wombles
We cover the whole of Northamptonshire, at July 2021 we have 2600+members and have collected 22,000+ bags since Feb 2021. Please see our Facebook page for details on group picks etc
22567
4 years
View
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
View
Shotley Bridge Village Trust
The Trust has been in existence for over 20 years but only started its annual spring litter pick in 2007. Normally between 10 and 20 people turn out to help. We also have individual members that keep their local area free of litter. We are a registered charity, which aims to improve the environment in the village and promote a high standard of development, whether it be in new buildings or the renovation and alteration of existing property. We aim to secure the protection and improvement of features of public and historic interest and encourage an interest in the history of the area. Issues that we have addressed over recent years include the desirability and standard of new development proposals and changes to the use and appearance of existing buildings, a wide variety of traffic and highway issues, litter and dog fouling. We have arranged for the erection of plaques to provide information about people and buildings of historic interest, organised village litter pick days and had a variety of speakers at our open meetings. We have presented Design Awards for the best new development, following a poll of members. In the past we have published booklets of items about the history and development of the village and produced a leaflet of heritage trails in the village. More recently we have produced a local directory and been assisting the local businesses and community groups in organising the Shotley Bridge Victorian Christmas Weekend, including litter picks to keep the village looking attractive during the event. In 2011 we were awarded 'outstanding' in the RHS 'It's Your Neighbourhood" award scheme for Britain in Bloom. We have purchased 50 flower tubs, 8 barrier baskets and a trough for the conservation area and our volunteers plant and maintain summer & winter bedding. in 2012 we entered Northumbria in Bloom and were awarded Silver. We gained a Silver Gilt in 2013 and again in 2014. We are aiming for Gold in 2015. Each year we give awards for the best business & residential floral displays. Open meetings are held 3 times a year in the Catholic Church Hall for members and guests to raise and discuss issues arising in the village. Please visit our website for further information.
277
18 years
View
Oldbury Clean Team
Oldbury Clean Team aims to keep the village of Oldbury-on-Severn clean and tidy. It also covers the rural lanes around Oldbury and plans to clean up the bank of the River Severn at least once a year.
197
17 years
View
Mashamshire Litter Busters
Mashamshire is an area of outstanding beauty. We are doing what we can to preserve it. We do litter collection along the lanes and footpaths in and around Masham - and we find loads of plastic. We are reducing the impact of micro-plastics on the diet of your children and grand-children! A Masham resident has kindly offered to pay for our group meeting coffees. Many thanks. As we go about Mashamshire we get many kind appreciations from folk that we meet.
548
7 years
View
Bloomin' Bentham
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.
72
18 years
View
Beach Clean Up
Beach Clean Up Help keep Red Car Beach Clean
0
4 years
View
SEEITPICKITBINIT
SEEITPICKITBINIT, has been set up with the aim of bringing local people together to take action in making the kettering area a cleaner community. To donate to our volunteer fundraising efforts, especially for waders and gloves, please contact me via the email link on my group page. This year, after the recent Blue Planet documentary, we'll focus passionately on battling the appalling disaster of Marine and River plastic pollution, throughout the waterways of the Nene Valley. We'll be holding picks every week, raising money for Irchester Animals in Need and recycling as much of the plastic litter as we can, in the River Nene, River Ise and Slade Brook. WE HAVE JUST SECURED SOME CORPORATE FUNDING, SO OUR EQUIPMENT WISH LIST IS LOOKING GOOD. WE HOPE TO BUY A SMALL LITTER PICKING BOAT FOR THE RIVER CAMPAIGN AND SOME SYRINGE PROOF GLOVES. TO SUPPORT SEEITPICKITBINIT'S CAMPAIGN TO TAKE BACK CONTROL OF ENGLANDS RIVERS, ROADS AND GREEN SPACES, YOU CAN HELP US BUY EQUIPMENT OR DONATE TO OUR NOMINATED CAUSE USING THE OFFICIAL PAYPAL LINK FOR OUR GROUP. https://www.paypal.me/seeitpickitbinit Go to paypal.me Go to www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/cleanupmarineplastic Go to www.gofundme.com/marine-plastic-river-rescue-uk SeeItPickItBinIt is a voluntary community litter picking group, based in Kettering Northamptonshire, which has since its creation in 2011, removed and recycled over 10 Tonnes or 10 cars in weight of litter, from our beautiful county. In addition to regular litterpicks on my days off from work each week, every year we hold a 1 Tonne litter pick, which not only aims to clean up the green spaces and river habitats of our community, but also has begun to raise money for charities at the same time. The first two years of sponsorship saw us raise hundreds for Children In Need. This year we have just smashed our litter target with 1270kg and we raised an amazing £500 for a local animal rescue centre in Irthlingborough. The litter situation has never been worse in the history of the United Kingdom. Every day, people dump rubbish from their cars and in the streets. It is difficult to confront, but the heart of the problem can be explained in terms of ownership. The British public has increasingly retreated in to its living rooms, to enjoy its supermarket food, sit on its sofas, in centrally heated houses, fixated on computers, phones or tvs. This life is incredibly comfortable and almost impossible from which to break free. Litter happens because we draw a line at our front doors and our car windows. On the other side of that line is not our problem, so why would we care? Every day we see litter in front of our own doorsteps, on the street and in our parks. Why don't we just pick it up? The reason is because we don't see it as ours, even when it is in our own street, blown from our own bins. Once it crosses that line, we have society's permission to walk by, oblivious and guilt free. One day, I started to see litter. It was everywhere I looked. For years I had complained about it, but I had thought of it as a totally external problem to my life. It's the council, it's someone else's responsibility. One day at work, I did the unthinkable, I got so wound up, I stepped through the invisible forcefield that stops people from departing from the norm. I picked up a plastic bottle and put it in a nearby bin. I almost expected someone to shout at me or to hear sirens, but I didn't. By picking up 1 single bit of litter, I had left that place, better than I had found it, I had already succeeded at making a small, but real difference. After that, I picked up first 10, then 100, then 10,000 pieces of toxic plastic at a time. It felt amazing, my life for the first time, had some meaning beyond feeding my face and being only concerned with maintaining my comfort zone and the comfort zone of those around me. People expressed shock and even warned me that I might get in trouble for breaking the rules. As it turned out, picking up litter has only ever resulted in good things, great conversations, engagement, excitement and encouragement from others, who didn't know such a thing was possible. This year I picked up about 2 Tonnes. During the 2018 litter season, I am challenging myself to remove 5 tonnes. It will definitely not be easy, especially as I've recently lost both parents and my last surviving grandparent. However, litter picking is a way to know that you are part of something bigger, so it helps you through the tough times. Not only does it raise money, it protects and nurtures animals and habitats. Less litter reduces crime and anti-social behaviour, reduces council and government spending. Best of all, it crucially shows others, not just with words, but with concrete powerful actions. I don't think that I'll fix the plastic problem on my own. However any publicity about doing something to tackle a problem that affects us all, is a step in the right direction. Next time you get home and see that plastic bottle or crisp packet in front of your house, just ask yourself, am I a leader or a follower. What happens next will give you the answer. Wonderful news, the McDonalds Drive-In restaurant in Kettering, has generously sponsored 5 bins along Northfield Avenue, in order to mitigate their impact on the community. By working in conjunction with Amanda McDade from Kettering council's street cleansing team, we managed to lobby the food retailer and secured their support in tackling this significant challenge for our community We currently litter pick any area around Kettering and beyond, as and when it looks bad enough to need it. Last years 1 Ton sponsorship raised £500 Nanna's animal shelter in Irthlingborough. This year we hope to raise money for a variety of other litter picking volunteers and groups around the UK. Our focus this year is on river and marine plastics, so we'll be hitting the rivers and lakes, recycling as much as we can, to keep Britain tidy. *********************2017 event target achieved******************** ************************************1270KG**************************** *************************18 picks-100 hours picking**************** **************************Fundraising total £500******************** *************************************************************************** ***********************2018 1 Tonne Litter Pick********************** *********************************92KG************************************ ********************************9 Picks*********************************** *********************Fundraising total £535************************** Future areas of interest will concentrate on the heavy litter problems along the River Ise/Nene and country lanes between Kettering and Thrapston. If you can spare an hour or two, please feel free to email our group to be a part of the next event and help us show that our community is worth caring about. THE A14 FROM WEST BOUND BETWEEN THRAPSTON AND KETTERING IS MISSING, UNDER THE MOUNTAIN OF PLASTIC THAT IS STREWN ALONG ITS VERGES. IF I'M FEELING A BIT CRAZY ONE WEEK, I MIGHT ATTEMPT TO CLEAN IT ALL UP. Every pound that the council doesn't need to spend on picking up litter will be spent on much more deserving projects that effect all of us such as policing, education and health. Several organisations have been extremely helpful in supplying us with bin liners, hi-vis vests and litter grabbers. Many thanks to Amanda McDade, the community litter picking liaison on the council's street cleansing team and to Lindsay Richmond at Helping Hands for the amazing Streetmaster Pro pickers and his much appreciated sponsorship. Please check out the pictures in the gallery, which shows just how much of a difference removing the litter has made at some of the nominated sites. Any help is very much appreciated.
859
14 years
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Calne Clean Up Crew
WE litter pick, sweep, clean rivers etc..anything to clean and brighten Calne and surrounding countryside. If you would like to adopt your street or neighbourhood we can assist you with getting set up. Pickers are also available from the town council to borrow.
1000
7 years
View
Community Clear Up
Though litter is picked regularly in the Village of Horndean unfortunately no sooner it is cleared than more is dropped. We are hoping to have all ages to help us keep Horndean and surrounding areas as clear of litter as possible. If you are interested in volunteering please contact us.
0
14 years
View

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?

Empower your group