Purbrook and Widley Area Residents Association (PAWARA)

I am retired and collect litter as an individual. I started litter picking when I was living in Small Heath and collected more than 1,750 bags over a three year period. I have now moved to Coseley, which is far less blighted by litter, but it is still about. I collect litter two or three times a week around Upper Ettingshall Road, Ivy House Lane, Shaw Road and roads and alleys leading from that area.

Helping to create a cleaner and safer Neighbourhood for all our residents and children.

Banishing litter from Hortham Village and its surroundings

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.

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.

QF TEST

I am the sole member of this group so far and would like to recruit other like-minded, local litter-killers. I've armed myself with a litter-picker-upper stick, bought online for a tenner, and I use recycled, plastic, supermarket bags for the collections. I walk around my village on litter-spotting missions every now and then with my fiance and our baby daughter. Good exercise and the lanes look much nicer. 'Hotspots' for litter are the bus shelter and the playing fields. Great feeling of satisfaction too. My aim is to keep our beautiful village 100% litter-free.

To improve and enhance Wycombe Marsh by way of environmental improvements for current and future residents and visitors to Wycombe Marsh. We work with residents, local authorities, other agencies, local businesses and social housing providers to identify and improve the area by way of regular litter picking and initiating and maintaining, with the owner’s permission, gardening activities on small undeveloped, uncared for areas of land.

We hold a weekly Green Gym session where we litter pick and do low key enhancements to the nature area. Litter and fly tipping has been a major problem over the years but since we started the group over 6 years ago the site is a lot cleaner. Other users tend to pick as they go too.

I am tired of seeing rubbish and dog fouling in my local area. We have a beautiful park and nature reserve and I'm seeing more and more fly tipping not just here but all around my local area. I am hoping there are like minded people out there who for a few hours whenever you can we can organise a clean up of the most blighted places and into the bargain get some much needed excercise and make a few friends along the way. I hope to hear from you soon.