Killamarsh Conservation Group

Our aim is to continue keeping Mill Lane England's cleanest lane.

Litter picking wherever we go. Sometimes solo or small and large organised group cleans.

I am currently dismayed at the sheer amount of trash littered on Salisbury plain and surrounding villages. I am happy to clean myself and happy to work with others if they want.

We have come together to do positive things, where we can see ways we can help, to make our town even better than we already know it is. We love Broadstairs. We know that most of the people who live here do too and that visitors often fall in love with it from the moment they arrive. It's a great place. But nowhere is perfect and let's face it, if it was it would be boring. We're always thinking of new ideas of things we can do that will make a positive difference and address some of the issues and challenges our town faces. Our aim therefore : Make Broadstairs an even nicer place to work in, live in or visit.

A few* stalwart volunteers meet once a month to TIDY UP the neighbourhood, much to the delight of some residents & Lewes District Council! *Now in our 15th year, we have welcomed more recruits, taking our total to 38.

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.

Mum, teenage son & daughter, daughters boyfriend, Grandad and Olive the dog - fed up of running, cycling, walking, fishing and seeing lazy people’s rubbish thrown in the hedges and verges of our lovely countryside - trying to make a difference, teach good standards and promote looking after our world.

We have 26 active litter pickers each one of whom takes responsibility for a stretch of road or an area of green space. We meet occasionally to review tactics and to swop ideas. We have a massive litter pick once a year to shift an area of accumulated rubbish. We have good relations with the Parish Council and the local authority who are great at clearing flytipping when we inform them.

Chailey Litter PIckers have now been active for over a year, having formed in April 2016. We meet as a group monthly, to pick as wide an area as we can in one go. Group members also pick around their own area between group events. Some equipment is always available for group events and I can help people to purchase their own equipment if they would like to do so - gloves, grabbers, bag hoops. We will happily also travel to pick in other areas to help out on group events or to pick in areas where a particular need has been brought to our attention.

Cleaning the local canal, park and Litter picking