REAG cleaning along the way of the Gracie Fields Trail

REAG cleaning along the Gracie Fields Trail

It was a case of “Sing as we go” for members of the Rochdale Environmental Action Group (REAG), as they set about cleaning along the way of the Gracie Fields Trail last Saturday.

The group had decided that their contribution to the weekend’s celebrations, ahead of the unveiling of her statue on the Sunday, would be to clear litter around locations on the route where purple plaques denoting significant moments of ‘Our Gracie’s’ heritage have been set.

Ghulam Shahzad said: “We anticipated that there would be an increase in visitors to Rochdale for this occasion, and we wanted the town to look its best after all the effort that the organising bodies had put into it.

“Most of the major sites, such as the Town Hall, Memorial Gardens, and around the Regal Moon are regularly cleaned by the street operatives from Environmental Management, so we concentrated on some of the more ‘off the beaten track’ locations like Milkstone Road, and the area around Baron Street and Kenion Street, which was particularly heavily littered.

“In all, we collected seven bags of litter in just under an hour before our chairwoman, Christine Mathewson, and fellow member Marica Graovac went to join in rehearsals with the ‘People’s Choir’.”

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 on 07851 323612, or email info@reagroup.org.uk