VOLUNTEERS are urgently wanted to join the Warrington Litter Network to support the Great British Spring Clean.
Warrington has a large number of separate volunteer teams and in 2024 they collected around 8,000 sacks of litter working in close liaison with the senior team at Warrington Borough Council and a number of Borough Councillors, who have
provided particularly strong support.
Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) is the overarching litter Charity in the UK. Each year they set a Challenge for litter volunteers throughout the land as part of their Great British Spring Clean (GBSC).
Warrington teams have excellent connections with “KBT” with 13 locally based KBT Litter Ambassadors endorsed by the Charity; one of the largest concentrations of Ambassadors for a town of our size anywhere in the UK.
They are planning around 26 separate organised Litter Picks in Warrington in the GBSC period which stretches from 21 March to 6 April. Some of these will be “family friendly” in parks and similar settings.
The highlight date will be Saturday 29 March when, during that morning, they will be running 10 separate picks of up to 4kms each running to and from the Town Hall.
These teams – comprising 10 to 12 volunteers in each team – will be led by an experienced Leader and their Deputy.
Litter network volunteers are now being sought to join each of the 26 Litter Picks during the period 21 March to 6 April. Bookings should be made via a dedicated Warrington based Booking e-mail address ; [email protected]
Accompanied children of 6 and above will be welcome on certain “family friendly” Picks – but only on the basis of 1 child per accompanying adult.
Equipment will be available to borrow on the day – litter pickers (including those for children), hi-vis vests, litter hoops and bags to collect litter in.
In December last year a 13 year old schoolboy from Tarporley, Thomas Morgan, wrote to Cllr Hans Mundry, Leader of the Council. Thomas asked whether Warrington BC would take up his “One Tonne Challenge” to litter pick 1,000 kgs of litter.
This follows his success in getting the Royal Navy to litter pick two tonnes of litter from seas and watercourses across the world back in 2023. This followed him writing, when he was just 11, to the First Sea Lord, Sir Ben Key.
In the light of his request, Warrington BC agreed to work with Warrington Litter Volunteers in agreeing to attempt to meet Thomas’s One Tonne Challenge during the timeframe of the GBSC during March and early April.
Litter Network picking can be an extremely enjoyable, healthy, open air experience with a range of like-minded local people. It helps improve the look and feel of our town and often has the impact of leading to an improvement in ongoing littering, once an area has been tidied up. Litter picking can often remove plastics and other litter from entering our watercourses. Plastics take years and years to break down. Warrington sits on the banks of the River Mersey only a few miles from the Irish Sea; plastic debris falling into a stream or river in Warrington could easily find itself
in months and years ahead causing major problems for water quality and marine life. This is why our Great British Spring Clean is so important.
