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.

 

Swaythling Railway Station Clean Up

Unit One, The Swan Centre,Eastleigh,SO50 5SG

15 Nov 2016

00:00

We decided to go along to Swaythling railway station on 15th November 2016 for our quarter 4 event for 2016 which involved helping the volunteers who usually keep the station spick & span. The railway station is very close to our Swaythling restaurant which made it the perfect choice for our project. Bob Paignton is the main volunteer at the station and he has recently had a knee replacement so hasn't been able to get on with a lot of pre-winter jobs which we plan to carry out for him. We were lucky again with the weather which was sunny & surprisingly warm for mid November! A lot of us were in short sleeved t-shirts, certainly not normal for this time of year. We started arriving at around 9.30am and by 10am we were all ready to have our health & safety talk from Mark from Three Rivers Community Rail Partnership and get our tasks for the day set by Councillor Bob Paignton who is the main volunteer.

Involved in the job were: Franchisee Tony Bennett, Operations Manager Wez Roshier, Environment Manager Sarah-Jane Finch as well as member of Bennett's Community Crew from across our business. TJ from Bournemouth, Andre Almeida Business Manager from Boscombe, Michael from Basingstoke Market Place, Giovanni from Christchurch, Charlee from Ower, Simon from Basingstoke Brighton Hill, Huw & Georgia from Swaythling, John & Dave from Basingstoke Leisure Park & Erik from Picket Post. Tony, Wez & TJ were chief litter pickers managing to collect 6+ bags full of bottles, cans & various other items of rubbish from the entire site. John was in charge of jet washing the front of the station. Dave & Simon did leaf clearing with the leaf blowers collecting them up and putting them in the wildlife garden to compost down. Andre, Giovanni, Huw & Georgia removed leaves from the flower beds and removed dead plants. Charlee & Erik removed an old, broken planter then built a new one out of old tyres, replacing the plants from the old planter. Sarah cleared weeds, bramble & saplings from the wildlife garden. As everyone completed their jobs everyone came together for some heavier work in the wildlife garden which involved removing a large Buddleia which was definitely a heavy job to do. Mark & Bob were very pleased at the end, saying that we had managed to complete a years worth of work in one morning. Gentlemen, it was our pleasure! .

upcoming Events

No upcoming events

past Events

Jersey Summer 2019

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2019.

Burley Litter Pick September 2017

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2017.

Minstead September 2017

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2017.

Bennett\'s Community Crew Does The Great British Spring Clean

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2017.

Great British Spring Clean 2017 - Swaythling

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2017.

Love Where You Live 2014

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2011.

2014 Litter Picks

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2011.

Work With Local Schools

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2011.

The Big Park Challenge 2013

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2011.

Recycling Project Christchurch

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2011.

Bennett\'s Big Litter Relay

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2011.

East Hampshire Events 2011

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2011.

West Hampshire 2011

NB - These events are retrospective. We have had to add these events back to our page after the site was redesigned and all of our previous events were deleted. These events took place over 2011.

Minstead Post Covid Litter Pick

Die to Covid, we had to put a lot of our community events on hold as we had to concentrate on keeping our business afloat. Now that things are returning to the \"new normal\" we are getting back into ...

Dorset Litter Picks 2011

We started operating in Dorset in 2011 when we took over Bournemouth, Boscombe & Christchurch. Immediately we started forging links in the local communities by working with homeless in Boscombe/Bourne...

Bournemouth Litter Pick

We will be joining with the Bournemouth BID again in September 2019 to do another big litter pick in the town centre. Watch this space for the date and more details!!

Minstead Q2 Litter Pick 2019

We are meeting at Andrews Mare car park at 10am and will then be following our usual routes. Litter pickers, hoops, Hi-Viz and bags will be provided. Please wear suitable clothes and footwear for the ...

Salisbury "Antique Roadshow" Clean Up

The Antiques Roadshow is coming to Salisbury!! On 14th May 2019 the famous TV show will be coming to the grounds of Salisbury Cathedral and we are going to be around to make sure that the area stays l...

Great British Spring Clean With Bournemouth BID

We will be joining with the Bournemouth BID and the council to take part in the Great British Spring Clean on 3rd April. We are meeting at 11am at Turtle Bay and starting at Horseshoe common. We met ...

Eastleigh BID Joint Litter Pick

We will be joining with the rangers from the Eastleigh BID on 27th February to have a big clean up of Eastleigh town centre. We will be meeting at McDonald's at 9.30am. We will provide litter pickers,...

Minstead Litter Pick Q1 2019

We met at 10am at the Andrews Mare car park. We had a nice team this time: Jas & Holly from Ower, James from Picket Post, myself as well as Tessa and Marion from the village. We split into two teams,...

Minstead October Litter Pick

We will be meeting at 10am at the Andrews Mare car park in Minstead for our regular litter pick along and around the main road from the A31 towards the village. We met up at 10am as usual. Present we...

Basingstoke Brighton Hill Litter Pick

We will be meeting up on 9th October 2018 to do a litter pick in and around the playing fields in Brighton Hill. We all met in the car park near the changing rooms for the playing fields at 10am. The ...

Swaythling Neighbourhood Centre

We are working with the volunteers that run the community centre in Swaythling, Southampton to fix things around their building. We met up at 9am on the morning of 14th August. We had staff from near...

Community Litter Initiative in Swaythling

We have always worked very closely with the local community in Swaythling, where our Black Cat restaurant is. The restaurant is in the middle of a big estate that incorporates a lot of student accommo...

Jersey Park Challenge

We are really excited about this, our first event in Jersey! It will take place on 27th June and we will be meeting at the restaurant at Halkett Street at 10am. We will then be walking to four local p...

Minstead May Litter Pick

We will be doing our usual quarterly litter pick with the local residents of Minstead on Friday 25th May 2018. Meeting at 10am at Andrews Mare Car Park. We will supply bags, litter hoops, litter picke...

Joint Litter Pick with Somerford ARC

We will be joining forces with the Somerford ARC in Christchurch and members of the local community to do a litter pick around the estate and also Watermans Park. We are meeting at the ARC at 11am and...

Great British Spring Clean

We will be joining together with a group of locals in Ellingham, Ringwood to do a litter pick for the Great British Spring Clean. We have had to reschedule this as it snowed when the last one was orga...

Minstead January/February Litter Pick

We will be completing our first litter pick in Minstead on 2nd February 2018. We were supposed to do this litter pick on 24th January but had to rearrange due to an absolutely horrendous downpour. Thi...

#pullingoutallthestops

On 21st November we will be meeting at Swaythling railway station at 9.30am to do a big clean up of the railway station prior to the winter. We will be leaf collecting, litter picking, tidying the gar...

Burley Village Clean-Up

We will be joined by Burley Parish councillor Jane Kendall to do a litter pick from our restaurant at Picket Post walking towards the village at Burley. Meeting at the Picket Post restaurant at 10am. ...

Minstead Area Litter Pick

We will be doing our usual quarterly litter pick in the forest around Minstead and will be meeting at 10am at the Andrew Mare car park. Please bring your own litter picking equipment and hi-viz, bags ...

Great British Beach Clean

For the first time we will be working with the Marine Conservation Society to take part in the Great British Beach Clean which is taking place on the weekend of 15th-17th September. As we like to be d...

Anti-Litter Campaign

We decided to run an anti-litter poster competition across our area to try and help persuade people not to drop rubbish in the first place, rather than have to pick up rubbish after the event. We want...

Minstead May 2017 Litter Pick

We will be meeting up at the Andrews Mare car park at 10am on 9th May to do our regular litter pick from the A31 to the crossroads heading to Minstead village. All are welcome, we will supply litter p...

Great British Spring Clean in Southampton

We will be joining up with the Daily Echo from Southampton to clean a local "grot spot" that their readers pick as the most needy from the following three: Swaythling Railway Station High Road leading...

Great British Spring Clean Launch

We will be going along to help the New Forest District Council to launch their campaign for the "Great British Spring Clean" on Monday 27th February. We are meeting at Picket Post car park(NOT McDonal...

Bennett's Community Crew Do The Great British Spring Clean!

We will be meeting at the Picket Post McDonald's at 10am for a 10.30am start. we will be heading on the road towards Burley shopping at all of the car parks on the way. I will attach a map of our prop...

Ronald McDonald House Southampton "Spring Clean"

We are delighted to be able to be do our first big "clean up" of 2017 at the Ronald McDonald House Southampton which is at Southampton General Hospital. We will be sprucing up their roof-top garden, ...

Minstead January Litter Pick

We will be meeting as usual in the Andrew Mare car park at 10am We were again, so lucky with the weather. The night before it was pouring down and it was the next day as well. But the morning if the l...

Minstead Autumn Litter Pick

We will be going along and doing a litter pick along with local residents, organised by Tessa Keeley, to collect any on the surface litter left by summer tourists. We went along and were met by Tessa,...

St Peter's Church Project - REVISITED

On Wednesday 7th September we went back and had another go at tacking the very overgrown grounds of St Peter's Church. Staff from all across our business will come together again to do some more work....

St Peter's Church Project

We have found out about a very deserving cause in Bournemouth. St Peter's Church is a beautiful church right in the centre of Bournemouth. It has a lot of history there and is the burial place for Mar...

Minstead July Litter Pick

We are going to meet up with Tessa Keeley again to go over the area that we regularly litter pick to ensure that this is kept litter free as much as we possibly can. We have built a great relationship...

Minstead Clean for the Queen

Sarah, our co-ordinator will be meeting with Tessa Keeley who lives in Minstead on the road to Emery Down to help out with their litter pick. Tessa first worked with Bennett's Community Crew after sen...

"Clean For The Queen" joint event with Bennett's Community Crew & the Dorset Devils

Bennett Community Crew are working with Dorset Devils to do a litter pick starting at Turtle Bay, picking in Horseshoe Common then walking down Old Christchurch Road, past McDonald's towards The Squar...

Lansdowne Underpass Clean up

We are taking part in a joint clean up with the Bournemouth Litter Squad. Our Planet Champion Kayleigh, from our Bournemouth Restaurant went along & joined in the litter pick with the Bournemouth Lit...

Minstead Area Litter Pick

We will be meeting at the Andrew Mare car park at 10am on 13th January 2016. We will be picking up rubbish from the car park and up & around the lake and then follow the fence by the A31(forest side)...

About Bennett's Community Crew

Who are Bennett's Community Crew and what do we do. As a franchisee, Tony Bennett loves to give back to the communities that his restaurants are part of. He has always ensured that his restaurants hav...

Bennett's Beach Blitz

For our last quarter Environment event we are going to do a “Beach Blitz” along the seafront at Bournemouth/Boscombe. Why a Beach Blitz? I have been working with Peter Ryan from a voluntar...

Bennett Restaurants "Hits the Parks"

As our third quarter individual litter pick we decided to target local litter “hot spots” that get bad when the kids are off of school. This meant for most of our restaurants their local p...

Love Where You Live 2015

We are working in conjunction with Angela Peters from the New Forest Rangers from the New Forest National Park Authority & The Blackwater Conservation Group. The plan is to pull out a plant called H...

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.

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
View
Bow Pickers
We will go out once a week over the weekend to pick up litter in the local area. Nice way to meet new people and tidy up the local area!
21
7 years
View
Friends of Thringstone
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.
17907
20 years
View
Test Valley Clean Up
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.
0
17 years
View
Calthorpe Eco Warriors
Highgate area
10
3 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
View
Brighter Better Orrell
Aim to create a brighter and better Orrell in which to live and work. The area in Wigan is semi rural area and we litter pick the local streets, country lanes, fields and parks
0
4 years
View
Hoveton Hates Litter
I started litter picking as I was annoyed by the litter in the hedges outside Roys supermarket and it snowballed from there. I regularly litter pick around the village and also other areas whilst out and about. I am doing this for the wildlife and the environment.
201
7 years
View
QFTEST31
test
0
3 years
View
Stanton Harcourt Litter Pickers
Formed by residents of Stanton Harcourt and Sutton with support from the parish council, we litter pick on the second Saturday or each month (to coincide with the Village Market) with an annual event encouraging widespread participation in March.
0
6 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