Friends’ group to “Clean for the Queen”

A WARRINGTON conservation group is planning to make its annual spring tidy-up part of the “Clean for the Queen” campaign this year.
The Friends of Gorse Covert Mounds is a Woodland Trust group which helps to maintain the urban woodland on the edge of Birchwood and every year gives the area a spring clean.
This year they plan to make the initiative part of Keep Britain Tidy’s “Cloean for the Queen” campaign which celebrates the Queen reaching the age of 90.
It is hoped to involve more than a million people nationally.
Friends’ chairman Nigel Balding said there had been some criticism of the Clean for the Queen campaign from people suggesting a better name would be “Scrub The Streets Peasants” because the campaign was treating people like “subservient plebs”.
Mr Balding said: “I disagree.  We always try to have some fun whilst tidying up and I’m thinking that ‘Clean for the Queen’ will make the event a little different again this year.
“We have an offer from Paul Taylor, of Taylor Business Park, to use a giant queen model that I think has previously served on a float in Warrington and I have ordered 40 special commemorative purple collection bags for the litter.
“Who wouldn’t want a giant model queen on their tidy-up event!
“Keep Britain Tidy does some fantastic work and it seems a bit mean for anyone to be negative about either tidying up or celebrating Her Majesty reaching this very distinguished age. Thinking about Birchwood, although it may be unlikely that the Queen will come to visit on her birthday, those of us who live here will still have the benefit of a cleaner environment.”
The Friends are holding a meeting at 7.30pm on Wednesday February 10 at the Poacher pub to plan this year’s clean up.