Community rallies round to take part in Doncaster litter pick

Retired NHS administrator Heather Marsh called on all family groups to turn out to tidy the street where they live, in the hope that it will lead to a wider more joined-up campaign once lockdown restrictions ease.

Heather said: “When I started litterpicking down our local lanes I was appalled by how bad things were. There were just bags and bags of rubbish, but once we had our little group formed, the whole scene changed and it became a pleasure to walk down Old Thorne Road where we live.

“We soon started getting messages of support personally, and on social media along with offers to join in and try to join up activities to clean our streets. We discovered just how big the litterpicking community is. There were already small armies of people in the area taking action on a daily basis. They are making their daily lockdown exercise routine a litterpick.

“Due to Covid restrictions we can only take action at the moment in small family groups, but I hope we will be able to add more streets and plan to blitz problem areas and extend action to our lovely green lanes. We have had people saying to us that this is the work our councils should be doing, but it is such a huge task. I have had a zoom meeting with DMBC Streetscene contractors and I am pleased to say they are ready to help with bags and litterpicking grabs, and to go further and use CCTV to take action in hotspots that we can help identify.

“Above all we should be looking to change the culture so everyone realises that it is not OK to drop litter. It’s not OK to leave dog mess. Volunteers clear up because they hate to see our lovely country spoiled by rubbish. Plastic litter can last hundreds of years and left alone it will accumulate for ever.

“We will be reporting on social media and in our local press and hopefully encouraging other areas to form postcode groups and see the movement snowball.”

Check out the Facebook page ‘DN7 lockdown litter weekend’.

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