Top award for litter-picker David

A COMMUNITY champion who set up his own litter picking team at Warrington has scooped a national Keep Britain Tidy Award.
Westbrook resident David Parr won the Environmental Champion award at the Network Conference and Awards event following his nomination by Warrington Borough Council’s development and public protection services team.
The council’s Love Where You Live campaign was also runner up in the Partnership award category.
David was nominated for the award for setting up Clean Up My Community and co-ordinating litter picks in his local area with the support of the council, Keep Britain Tidy, local companies and community groups.
It didn’t take long before more people volunteered and were helping to clear litter in the whole of West Warrington. Since then, more than 775 bags of litter have been collected and the area has benefitted from over 660 hours of community work.
David said: “I was delighted and honoured to accept this award on behalf of the whole team at Clean up my Community-Warrington and it is great that their hard work has been recognised by such a great organisation as Keep Britain Tidy.
“Our thanks also go to the team at Warrington Borough Council, who have been tremendous supporters for
our campaign. It certainly gives us a lot of motivation to continue this work to remove the blight of litter from our community in Warrington and proves that anyone who makes the effort can make a difference”.
Partnership working is an essential element of the council’s Warrington’s Love Where You Live campaign, which aims to inspire individuals, businesses, groups and organisations to think about their communities and take personal responsibility for making Warrington a cleaner, green place.
There have been 17 campaigns, 21 community litter picks and 43 local events since the project started in 2012.
Cllr David Keane, the council’s lead member for environment and public protection, said: “David is a real champion in our eyes and we felt that his hard work and commitment deserved national recognition and we are delighted for him.
“He came to our attention because he felt so passionately about the area he lived in and came up with a community spirited solution to helping keep his area litter free.
“David and his team are held in high esteem by residents and not only is the campaign a success but it has inspired other people to contact the council about how they can tackle litter, dog fouling and fly tipping and we are only too happy to support them.
“I am also delighted that Love Where You Live has been highlighted in these national awards.
“Warrington residents already take great pride in the town and with the help of enthusiastic people this campaign is making even more of a positive difference to the places where people live, work and play.”
Anyone who would like to join David and his team can find out more by emailing [email protected]
Pictured: David Parr (left) with Cllr Keane and the awards