 |
| Megan & Paulette |
The community event was organised by Paulette and Megan at Lewisham Plus http://plus-services.org/ and supported by Daniella.
 |
| Megan with Lewisham councillors |
Most of us litter pick because we are
concerned about the environment, but group litter picks have so many benefits
aside from the environmental one and you don’t even have to litter pick to take
part! You could help sign people in, sort equipment, bake a cake, chat to passers-by,
organise, design a poster, make some tea, or just walk around for company
because you care and want to be sociable. Last Saturday’s pick in Mayow Park (14th
September) was a great example of how meaningful they can be.
The PLUS pickers had their first successful
pick in the summer in Folkstone Gardens and were keen for more. As Rob Agrawal,
Head of Service at PLUS said, “Litter picking is such a rewarding thing to do as everybody is able to
participate to some extent and the results are obvious and immediate’.
One participant, Megan, enjoyed it so much and
wanted to organise one closer to home. With help from her fabulous support
worker Paulette, we met Alona, Chair of the Friends of Mayow Park, who was happy
to support but at first wasn’t sure if the park needed a clean. Mayow Park on
first appearances is very clean and it is well looked after; it has a park
keeper (Ainsley) twice a week, an active Friends’ group, and is clearly loved
by its many users.
However, like most well used parks, when you
start to really look you will see the gleam of plastic, perhaps a bit of straw
wrapper taken by the wind, or a plastic bottle deliberately chucked in a bush
(out of sight, out of mind), or the thousands of cigarettes (it is estimated
that 4.5 trillion cigarettes butts are littered each year), which most smokers
aren’t even aware are harmful.
After our walkabout to check out Mayow Park and see what we could do a date was set. Megan and Paulette contacted their friends, put up posters and with some support from me and Glendale everything was in place for the day, with fingers crossed for sunny skies. Thankfully the weather delivered, and it was beautiful day!
 |
| These young people arrived in the park and wanted to help Daniella |
In all 29 people took part, including three
wonderful young pickers, as their guardian Jill stated, “They walk
through the park on the way to and from school and come every weekend, so it
was good to see them having fun while helping the environment and the park they
love.”
We were also joined by councillors Susan Wise, John Paschoud and Jacq
Paschoud and,from NDTi, Madeline Cooper-Ueki who inspired PLUS to get involved
after hearing her talk about social inclusivity, as she surmised about the day, “Communities and friendships are built when we
come together to do things that matter in our neighbourhoods. All too often
people with learning disabilities are seen as recipients of help from those
around them. Megan’s role in making this park cleanup such a success captures
how the opposite is the case. Communities benefit most when everyone is
included!”
 |
| Cllr John Paschoud with young helpers |
 |
| Young helper knows where to find litter |
 |
| Young helper picks up litter |
The PLUS pickers are keen to get involved in more community litter picks. If you'd like to join them or organise one, please get in touch.
LINKS TO WEBSITES OF PARTICIPATING ORGANISATIONS
CleanupUK: cleanupuk.org.uk
https://www.facebook.com/TheBeautifulBoroughsProject/
twitter.com/Cleanup_UK
instagram.com/cleanup_uk
Rob Agrawal (Head of Service) PLUS (Providence LINC United Services)
6 Belmont Hill, Lewisham, London, SE13 5BD
No comments:
Post a Comment