Friends of BETARA

Local community litter picking group

As a resident's group we are keen to maintain and protect our environment

Bearpark Parish Council working in partnership with local residents, local groups and Durham County Council aim to litter pick on a quarterly basis. We strive towards living in a nicer, cleaner and better looking environment and pride ourselves in taking positive action to improve OUR local area.

Currently litter picking in the Bellfields area of Guildford. New volunteers welcome for this and all other Guildford areas!

We are a dedicated group aiming to get The Haywoods litter free and dog faeces free.

At this time this is a one man group, but all help will be gratefully received.

CUDS was formed primarily to litter pick around our town and its environs. We do so about 4 times a month for 2 hours each time and then have a cup of tea and the all-important biscuits. We also strip useless bits of turf off areas, dig over, plant bulbs and sow wildflower seeds which we maintain on 2 roundabouts and various other places. At present we have about 28 members. We are not a charity - we are funded by grants for which I apply and have back-up from Dervizes Town Council's Park and Open Spaces team when we can't shift all the stuff we have collected ourselves. When we started over 3 years ago, we were viewed with some suspicion - as in 'Are you all doing Community Payback?' and so forth - interesting to think that a great group of oldies would be doing that! Now, in our bright blue hivis vests emblazed with CUDS on the back, nearly everybody knows who we are - and if they don't, they must have been asleep. We work with local groups - Beavers, the Canoe Club, The Lions at their Fair and recently with The Fulltone Orchestra at their free event in the Market Place. We are also planning our reward - apart from cake, which we have before our summer and Christmas breaks. This time we are going on a day out to visit various gardens in Somerset - it's great to be sociable and many have made firm friends within our group.

Billingham and surrounding villages

The Group operates under the aegis of the Town Council. Every Sunday morning, at 9.00, a small band of volunteers (open to anyone to attend) meets at the Civic Centre to conduct a 'swift-pick' in the worst-affected areas (finishing at about 11.00). The Campaign has moved onto taking small patches of public land in the town and overseeing planting out and maintenance. The town's annual beautiful gardens competition is organised by the Group. The Group joins the annual clear-up of the River Uck that flows through the town. Weeding pavements and cutting back undergrowth are also tasks that are taken on. Most of this work is concentrated on the town centre, but a network of 'litter pickers' is being gradually established on the estates around the town. Volunteers are provided with a hi-vi vest, a litter picking stick, gloves and refuse sacks - and we even have wheeled trolleys to take round with you to deal with the large amounts of litter on a Sunday morning. The Campaign has its own (Don't be a) "Mucky Duck" logo.

This cross Derbyshire group has been assembled on Nextdoor to enable like minded people to join together in collecting litter, raising awareness in the community plus ......