Team effort clears path to tidyness

Residents of Sparth Bottom joined forces with REAG to clear this overgrown footpath - before

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Residents of Sparth Bottom joined forces with Rochdale Environmental Action Group (REAG) last Saturday, helping to clear an overgrown footpath.

Members of the group had spent Friday evening knocking on doors in Corporation Road, talking directly with the residents and encouraging them to join REAG the following morning to tidy their own area commencing with cutting back weeds and undergrowth which was obscuring the public footpath. The Sparth area had been highlighted as requiring attention by ward councilors at a meeting the previous week.

A spokesperson for REAG said: "We were encouraged by the response that we received from everyone that we spoke to. Some of the householders told us that they regularly clean the area themselves, but that work commitments had prevented them from doing as much as they would like to.

"REAG provided spades, shears and litter pickers, and asked the residents to bring along any tools of their own as well. Between us, we had the pathway and the surrounding pavements clear in about an hour.

"One young girl who joined in was heard to say: 'I feel much better for doing this today'.  

"This underlines our ethos: we don’t do the work for the residents, but encourage them to get involved with us, to take pride in their area and responsibility for keeping it clean afterwards.

"We are not just about litter picking, but helping to improve the environmental image of Rochdale as a whole. We will work in this way with any residents who want to improve their own area and are willing to work alongside us."

REAG is a voluntary group which meets every Saturday from 10.00 - 11.30am, and is open to anyone. For more information, contact group secretary Ghulam Shahzad:

info@reagroup.org.uk
07851 323612