Fringe dwellers

This group closed in February 2014 as the organiser moved out of the area and there were no other members

Our aim is to clean up local streets and countryside around the Crawley/Horsham/Copthorne areas. We are a new group and are keen for new volunteers.

Our aim is to clear the roadsides of litter and keep our villages looking spick and span.

I am keen to help tidy up the areas I live near - if you're interested in doing some litter-picking, please get in touch.

We co-ordinate activities for the CPRE litter campaign Stop the Drop in County Durham and Darlington. These include acting as a central focus to which reports of litter grot spots may be made; making regular personal contact with Local Authorities, Parish Councils and tourism organisations; organising litter picks throughout the county; spreading publicity for the Campaign; and taking a programme of litter-awareness education into local schools. To report a Grot Spot, email us or phone 01325 315580. The group's website is: http://www.litterfreedurham.org.uk/index.html

Our focus will be the park located on Watt street as well as the surrounding pavements and streets. Eventually when there are enough members we can expand further and target other localised areas within Handsworth.

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!

Help the community to recycle and clean the environment

We live here and care about our neighbourhood. It is up to us to look after it and make it a nice place to live. Our ground-zero is Sheerwater Recreation Area. This is a heavily used open space which many of us enjoy using. Because it is so popular it inevitably attracts a lot of rubbish - but this is an easy, and rewarding, problem to deal with. Once we've cleaned up the park on one of our regular n0 $#!+ sessions, then we extend our reach outwards along the canal and neighbouring areas to cover as much as we can.

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.