Lancashire volunteers show bags of commitment with litter pick

Green-minded people in a Fylde town have banded together to tackle the scourge of litter.
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Volunteers gathered at the Morrison's car park in Kirkham and spread out across the town in a team effort to pick up the rubbish dropped on its streets and open spaces.

The team of around 25 from the Kirkham and Surrounding Area Litter Picker Volunteers gathered 80kgs of litter off the streets, playing fields and hedges in the area.

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The drive was led by Jez Welch who works at UCLan doing outdoor leadership and is studying for a PhD, who started the volunteers group during lockdown to spruce up the town.

Members of the Kirkham and Surrounding Area Litter Picker Volunteers get set to collect litter in KirkamMembers of the Kirkham and Surrounding Area Litter Picker Volunteers get set to collect litter in Kirkam
Members of the Kirkham and Surrounding Area Litter Picker Volunteers get set to collect litter in Kirkam

He said his love of the countryside inspired the efforts to keep his local area tidy.

The father of three who lives in Wesham has been a cub leader for ten years and has now started as a leader with with the teenage Explorer Scouts.

He said: "A year ago I contacted Fylde Borough Council and volunteered to do some litter picking.

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"Gareth Matthews (waste prevention and enforcement. officer) there was really helpful and I was provided with a litter picker and a hoop for bags. When we all went into lockdown in Spring, I wondered if anyone else in Kirkham wanted to help me. I got more than 100 people joining the group.

Families took part in the litter pick which started from Morrisons' car parkFamilies took part in the litter pick which started from Morrisons' car park
Families took part in the litter pick which started from Morrisons' car park

"It's great that there were so many interested. Not everyone can do it all the time, but you really get the sense of the passion people have for looking after their own environment and keeping the place tidy.

"I tend to go out once or twice a week. I often do Carr Lane and out towards the countryside there. It is amazing how much litter there is and how much gets thrown out of out of car windows - wine bottles and lots of takeaway rubbish. You find a lot of litter around the parks and obviously in the central areas.

"There are a few others who go out by themselves to do it and we put the bags full of litter in Market Square on a Sunday so they can be collected by the council team. It is quite satisfying to see the pyramid of bags there.

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"I am hoping that now we are going out as a group, other people will see us all doing it at once and it will get them to think about keeping the area tidy and the environment."

Some 80kg of rubbish was collectedSome 80kg of rubbish was collected
Some 80kg of rubbish was collected

Jez, a former pupil at Carr Hill High School, is currently doing a PhD, part of which is looking into social behaviour and the impact of littering.

He added: "It would be interesting to see if having groups going out picking up litter has any impact on people's attitude to litter and if littering is reduced as a result."

Jez is a member of the British Mountaineering Council and is an outdoor leadership intern at UCLan.

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He said: "The BMC are obviously very interested in the environment and are running an initiative called Hills to Ocean at the moment to look at impact on the environment from mountains through rivers to the ocean and to pick up litter in the countryside.

"I hope that thanks to this group that more people will think about keeping there area tidy and hopefully working with the Explorers we can keep that interest going for future generations."

Barbara Parkinson, community champion at Morrisons said: "Morrisons is committed to helping and supporting their local Communities however they can. So when we heard about the planned litter pick, I contacted Jez Welch the local organiser and offered our help.

"We used Morrisons car park as the base for people to meet up. Morrisons provided PPE and sanitising products to keep everyone safe. The amount of rubbish collected was amazing When you consider that a lot of the rubbish was crisp packets, sweet wrappers and plastic food packaging which doesn’t weight much on its own you will realise just how much was collected."