The Pickup Artists

Overthorpe village, Overthorpe hill, roads towards Middleton Cheney

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.

Hertford Road near St George\'s Church and surrounding streets.

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.

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.

We are part of the Frampton Cotterell and Coalpit Heath Village Action initiative. We aim to co-ordinate the efforts of local people in promoting awareness of the problem of litter; improving attitudes; and taking part in monthly organised litter picking, with the aim of keeping our villages pleasant and pretty. We know that many residents look after the roadsides and paths adjacent to their own homes and wish to encourage this. Some of our members carry chalk to mark dog fouling on pavements, to help people avoid stepping in it and to tell irresponsible dog owners that they should be clearing up after their pet. Litter picking can be very rewarding, and is an opportunity to get out and make new contacts in the village. Please get in touch if you can help in any way, however small. Please email us if there is any particular area in the village over which you have concerns about litter. In 2012 Nisa - Village Roots in Woodend Road gave us some funds and we have bought some hi-viz vests with 'Volunteer - Village Action Litter Busters' printed on them. We are grateful for their continuing support. South Glos Council support us with sacks, picker sticks and bag hoops. See Upcoming Events for dates and meeting points for monthly litter picks. Please see our gallery below for some pictures of our members, including two younger litter busters!

work on our own, on ad hoc basis to keep local public roads, public footpaths and other private areas through our farm clear of fly tipping, litter and vandalism

We started as Weeley Wombleys in 2017 as so many residents had expressed their concerns about the amount of litter appearing everywhere, and we are now part of Weeley in Bloom. There are several take-aways in the area, and the detritus was mounting up so much Tendring District Council couldn\'t keep on top of it. We litter pick on the first Monday morning of the month, and there is usually a hard-core of about 15 residents who pick regularly. We also encourage residents to keep their frontages as clear of rubbish as possible and the area has seemed a lot tidier since we started. We have been into the local School wearing our home-made WeeleyWombley costumes, together with McDonalds (our Corporate partner), to encourage the primary school children to litter pick, and to take their litter home with them. McDonalds also very kindly have a member of staff litter picking around the Village practically every day, which is very much appreciated.

Tidy our community while building our community!

Camden Square Area