Litter picking group aim to improve local community‏

Volunteers met at the Castlemere Community Centre and were provided with litter picks and plastic bags in order to clean the area surrounding Castlemere Street

The Rochdale Environmental Action Group met up today (7 July) to help residents clean the area of Milkstone and Deeplish.

Volunteers met at the Castlemere Community Centre and were provided with litter picks and plastic bags in order to clean the area surrounding Castlemere Street.

Christine Mathewson and Ghulam Rasul Shahzad launched the action group in order to tackle the problem of litter and fly tipping. They will be looking to involve and engage the whole community in order to change people’s attitudes and make a real difference in improving the local area.

Christine and Ghulam will be looking to continuously recruit people who want to get involved in helping clean up the area, which has seen many clean-up schemes in the past but none that have had any real lasting effect.

Christine said: “We will be tackling the area weekly, working on three streets at a time. During the campaign we will also be trying to identify litter champions – people in the area who will be able to take charge of the initiative in their area.

“We want to start changing people’s minds and hearts. There have been a lot of litter picking schemes in the past but they haven’t been able to change people’s attitudes in the long term. We’re hoping that we can change the culture surrounding litter dropping.

“We’re taking a multi-pronged approach to the issue. As well as litter picking we’re also looking to bring in more bins as well as working with children and local businesses, we’re really covering every angle.”

Ghulam said: "The bin bags, litter picks, gloves and high vis vests were provided by Environmental Management. We are very thankful for the cooperation and support they are giving us.”

The Rochdale Environmental Action Group meet at 10.00am each Saturday at the Castlemere Community Centre on Tweedale Street.