Young musical Corby litter pickers recognised at awards event for environmental work

Members of Oakley Rangers Youth Club made it to the final of the environmental category in the BBC Northampton Make a Difference Awards 2026 for their monthy litter picks, planting of more than 1,000 trees and the ‘call-to-action’ environmental song ‘It’s Not Too Late If We Try’.

Founders of the group Paul Balmer and Judy Caine accompanied the young volunteers to the event at the Royal & Derngate in Northampton.

Judy said: “I wish there were more groups like ours where instead of just playing a fee every week the young people can put back into their community.

“When Paul and I started the group in 2007 giving free music lessons in exchange for litter picking and tree planting, we were not sure if it would take off.

“But, the young people seem to get a lot out of looking after the environment in which they live, and it gives them a great sense of pride in their community.”

Using their developing music talent the group wrote the song to perform under the artwork Gaia – a scaled-down version of the Earth – when came to the Core at Corby Cube last year. Oakley Rangers members will be completing the video for this track next month.

Paul said: “I was really knocked out last year when the young people were asked to headline an evening at the local theatre and perform under Luke Jerram’s fabulous artwork ‘Gaia’.

“A work to raise awareness of how beautiful the Earth is and how important it is for us to look after it.

“The Rangers took this message to heart and composed a song especially for the occasion – It’s Not Too Late If We Try.

“It is currently in the final stages of editing, and we hope to have it live on YouTube before Christmas. Watch this space!”

Judy added: “We were delighted that we were nominated for an award and even thought we were not the eventual winners we all had a great evening.

“It was wonderful to see and hear about all the fantastic things that are happening in our county.”

Wellingborough Eco Group won the ‘environment’ category for their work to reduce waste going to landfill.