Litter pickers give Kettering's streets a tidy

A team of volunteers gave Kettering's streets a tidy on Sunday (August 30) - and cleared some bizarre items.

A rusted old BMX, an ironing board and even part of a Halloween costume were removed by litter pickers who gave up two hours of their bank holiday weekend to help the environment.

In total 35 volunteers picked up enough rubbish to fill 35 bags after meeting outside the Beeswing pub in Rockingham Road, in an event organised by the Kettering Green Party.

Dez Dell, who helped organise the pick, said: "After the success of the litter pick we held at Weekley Hall Wood in support of the campaign to stop the warehouse development there, we knew there was a lot of interest in picking the local area so wanted to hold another to clean up our streets as well.

"I want to say thank you to all those amazing people who gave up their Sunday morning to pick up litter with us. It warms my heart to see how much our community care about the environment around us.

"However, many of the volunteers said that they collected large numbers of face masks while picking and it's a real shame that things made to protect us are being thoughtlessly discarded."

Litter pickers and bags were provided by Kettering Council's street cleansing team and the rubbish was left by a council bin to be collected the next working day.

Steve Esler and his family picked the park on Pennine Way. He said: "It was really surprising how much rubbish collects in the bushes in the play park. It was even more surprising to find part of a discarded Halloween costume - luckily the rest of the werewolf was nowhere to be seen!"

Steve's 12-year-old daughter Imogen said: “It was great for the community and super fun. It was fun because we could turn looking for litter into a hunting game or you could see who could find the most."

Five-year-old Stevie Ann Clements, who joined the litter pick, said the amount of rubbish they found was disgusting.

She said:"I love being outside with my family and I enjoyed helping with the Brambleside litter pick to clean up our environment.

"The amount of rubbish we found was disgusting.

"It makes me angry that people don't use bins or take their rubbish home. One day I hope I can go for a walk and not see any rubbish."

The volunteers also cleared large car parts and will next meet at the Rockingham Road Pleasure Park at 10am on September 27.

Co-organiser Emily Fedorowycz added: "It was so nice to see so many come out with us, and the kids enjoyed the dinosaur litter pickers! I’m just so grateful that we have so many lovely people in our town who really care about looking after it, and the more we build this momentum, the more we can spread the sense of stewardship we have for our town as well as spreading the litter picking bug.

"I picked down Furnace Lane, which was a really good patch to clear opposite the pub, and with the help of three-year-old Willow Griffiths, her dad Corey, and my mum Marnie, we cleared the lot. We even had fellow green, Adrian Watts, transport an old car wheel on his e-cargo bike for us.

"There’s something incredibly satisfying about litter picking and it’s great to know we’re making each area safer for wildlife and for kids to play out."

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