Volunteers take on litter louts in Spotland and Falinge

Rochdale volunteers turned out in their droves on Saturday to take part in The Great British Spring Clean 2022

Rochdale volunteers turned out in their droves on Saturday 18 June to take part in The Great British Spring Clean 2022 in Spotland and Falinge.

The organisers of the Spotland and Falinge effort were newly elected councillor Amber Nisa and her re-elected colleagues Iram Faisal and Faisal Rana.

The three led local #LitterHeroes to take care of the environment on the local doorstep. The spruce-up takes place in Spotland and Falinge in Rochdale every year with bin bags, gloves and hand-held litter-pickers provided by Rochdale Borough Council.

Councillor Nisa said: “I want to say a massive thank you to all our volunteers who came out and helped us with litter picking. It was great to see so many young people come out with us. The weather stayed dry. We enjoyed each other's company and had a lot of laughter but most importantly we cleared the litter.”

Councillor Iram Faisal added her thoughts about the children who took part too: “They were inspirational. It’s so encouraging to see young people caring so much about the place where they live and learn.”

The children commented that they were very happy to have taken part on such a lovely day. One commented: “We hope it will encourage others to act responsibly."

Councillor Rana said: "It was great to see so many people coming out to help with the clean-up. We care about the area in which we live and we want it to look clean and tidy.

“There was a great community spirit and it was so good to see so many children taking part. Our area is now looking so much brighter, cleaner and greener.

"Tackling litter and removing all the stuff that had been fly-tipped is a big priority for us as Spotland and Falinge's local councillors. People should take litter home with them, but sadly some people throw it in the street.”

Together with the rest of the country nearly half a million bags – 449,406 to be precise – were collected.