Litter Picking Summary 2nd->5th December 2015

A really good turn out of 8 volunteers met at The Farmers Arms in Chaple Lane on Wednesday 2nd December.

We covered the surrounding area including Chapel Lane, Buckingham Road, Bourne Street, Lindfield Estate South, Nursery Lane, Bedells Lane, the Kings Arms roundabout, Albert Rd, Victoria road, part of Alderley Road, Grove Avenue, Water Lane, Oak Lane, Racecourse Road and Altrincham Road.

Afterwards we went to the Holiday Inn Express Hotel for free tea and coffee along with some lovely cakes. We would like to thank Holiday Inn, and especially Leanne Harrad, for their help on our litter picks and their general support for our work.

We collected 14 bags on the Wednesday pick.

On Saturday 5th December, 6 intrepid volunteers turned out in very windy weather and met at Summerfields. The area around the shops was impressive now that the shops have hired contractors to keep the area clean. The area around the Colshaw housing estate was very bad though. We focussed on parts of the Colshaw estate, each end of Colshaw Drive, the whole of the footpath from Summerfields to the Polar Ford roundabout, the area around Energi gym and Dean Row Road towards Manchester Road.

We collected 15 bags on the Saturday pick.

So – a total of 29 bags in the 2 formal December litter picks – with more collected by individuals on ad-hoc litter picks.

Many thanks to everyone who has helped and supported us throughout the year – we hope to see you all again, and hopefully some new faces too, in our January picks.

Have a great Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.

Litter Picking Summary 4th->7th November 2015

Only 3 volunteers were available for the first of our 2 scheduled November litter picks on Wednesday 4th. We met in Bank Square and covered various roads in the area including, Grove Street, Altrincham Road, Parkway, Sainsbury’s Car Park, Alderley Road, Albert Road, Victoria Road, Kennerley’s Lane and Hawthorn Avenue. We collected 4 bags altogether.

4 volunteers met at The Honey Bee on Saturday 7th along with our youngest ever volunteer (who not only helped pick litter but also drew a brilliant picture of the Clean Team in action). We focussed on Altrincham Road from the edge of Wilmslow down to the airport tunnels. We also did a short section down Morley Green Road. Altrincham Road is the litter picker’s gift that keeps on giving – it is always really dirty down there despite it being scheduled in for a Clean Team pick 4 times a year. We think that most of the litter must be being discarded from vehicles.

Despite the relatively low turn out we still managed to collect 10 bags of rubbish which were left at the bus stop by the Airport Inn (the council have been informed and will collect).

Waitrose “Community Matters” Cheque For £540

We were delighted to receive a cheque for £540 from Waitrose as part of their “Community Matters” programme. We would like to thank everyone who used their tokens to vote for us. The money is very welcome as our funds were getting a bit low. Equally important is the recognition that we are a valued group within the town and the extra exposure to the work that we are doing to improve Wilmslow.

Litter Picking Summary 7th->10th October 2015

5 volunteers met at The Kings Arms on Wednesday 7th October. We collected 6 bags in the surrounding roads – e.g. Bedells lane, Chapel Lane, Albert Road, Victoria Roads and Alderley Road. The picture shows some fly tipping in the wooded area by Sainsbury’s car park – this has been reported to the council.

A much nicer day on Saturday 10th saw 9 volunteers meet at the Boddington Arms. Some of us headed of down Altrincham road to Waters and just beyond whilst others tackled Racecourse Road, Lindow Common, the areas around Kings Road and Broad Walk, Altrincham Road up to Little Lindow and some of the surrounding side streets. 3 bags were collected by the council during the morning. We left 10 more bags at the Boddington Arms. A few more bags were left at other locations around the town – the council were informed and they will collect them. So – we probably collected about 14 bags altogether.

We are experimenting with a new strategy of sifting through the bags at the end of the day and removeing all the recyclable items.

Litter Picking Summary – 5th -> 8th August 2015

We have completed both of the 2 litter picks that were scheduled in for August 2015 (we pick on the first Wednesday of each month and the following Saturday).

8 volunteers met at the Honey Bee on Wednesday 5th. We covered a large area including Altrincham Road between the airport tunnels and the junction with Mobberley Road. We also covered the whole of Morley Green Road between Altrincham Road and Mobbeley Road and then Mobberley Road itself back to Altrincham Road.

We also covered the old road beyond the Britannia Airport Inn where we found dozens of nitrous oxide cylinders. There has been more fly tipping in this area – which is an ongoing problem.

We would like to thank Leanne Harrad from Holiday Inn Express who came along to help. It’s great to have some assistance from the business sector.

Thanks also to the Honey Bee for letting us park – and for keeping the area around the pub clean. As the manager says – “It’s just good business sense”.

16 bags of litter were collected altogether on Wednesday.

7 volunteers met at the Parish Hall on Saturday 8th. One of our volunteers tackled Carnival Fields and Altrincham Road on her way to the Parish Hall. We spread out in various directions including the area near the King William pub, Manchester Road, and the pathways by the Bollin and along the railway line. 8 bags were collected altogether.

2 other volunteers went over to Prestbury Road – which was remarkably clean compared to normal. We therefore went further afield down Hough Lane and Adlington Road. 4 bags and 2 hub caps were collected in this area.

As usual the council have been informed and will pick up the bags that we have left for them.

So – a grand total of 28 bags at the organised litter picking events in addition to the ad hoc litter picking that our volunteers perform every month.

Litter Picking Summary – 22nd July 2015 “Britain In Bloom Judging”

Our volunteers were out in force on Wednesday 22nd July helping to get the town ready for the Britain In Bloom 2015 judging (on Thursday 23rd).

11 volunteers met at Bank Square in the morning and spread out around the town centre, focussing on the route that the judges will be taking – e.g. Alderley Road, The Memorial Gardens, The Parish Hall area and Water Lane. 15 bags of litter were collected altogether.

There were 2 events in the evening. 5 volunteers met in Sainsbury’s car park at 18:00. We collected a total of 7 bags which were left near the library for collection by the council.

4 other volunteers met at Lindow Common at 19:00. We focussed on the common itself (already very clean so maybe someone had beaten us to it) and Altrincham Road (we went as far as Waters in one direction and to Hawthorn Street in the other direction) and Little Lindow. 5 bags were collected altogether.

Altogether we collected a massive haul of 27 bags of litter during the day and have hopefully left the town looking nice and clean for the arrival of the judges on Thursday 23rd.

2 of our volunteers, Chris and Colin, took questions about Clean Team from the two judges on Thursday morning. We were also represented at the lunch in the Memorial Gardens along with the other volunteer groups who were involved with Britain In Bloom.

We are proud to have been involved in this great team effort and hope that the judges were impressed,

Litter Picking Summary – 1st -> 4th July 2015

A fantastic start to a bumper litter picking month,

On Wednesday 1st July we had one of our biggest ever turnouts, with around 12 volunteers meeting up at the Leisure Centre and tidying up the surrounding area.

We were pleased to welcome help from a member of staff of car parking specialists, District Enforcement Ltd, who provide parking services for clients in Wilmslow. We hope that other Wilmslow businesses will come forward to contribute to the cause.

We would also like to thank the Northern Rail staff who are helping to keep the station forecourt clean.

One of our volunteers collected more than 100 laughing gas canisters behind the Leisure Centre football area and more around a bench at the far side of the cricket pitch.

17 bags were left at the Leisure Centre and the council were advised to collect

4 of our volunteers met up with The Friends Of Lacey Green Park On Saturday 4th. The Friends focussed on tidying the park whilst the Clean Team spread out to tidy the surrounding roads. The area behind the parade of shops was again particularly bad.

Thanks to our ongoing co-operation with The Friends, we collected between us a total of 13 bags of litter, a traffic cone and a bicycle tyre. These were left at the entrance to the park and the council have been notified to collect.

So – 30 bags collected in July so far – and we will also be doing an extra event on 22nd July to help get the town spruced up for the Britain In Bloom judging.

Well done everyone!

Party In The Park 2015

Wilmslow Clean Team had a stall at “The Party In The Park” in the Carrs on Sunday 21st June 2015. Our volunteers were around all afternoon mannning the stall and picking litter. We spoke to a lots of people including a few who are interested in getting involved with our litter picks. New volunteers are always welcome – we don’t expect people to turn up to every event – it’s on an “as and when you are free” basis. We also enjoyed talking to the children about the impact of dropping litter.

We had a competition to win a teddy – which has been handed over to the lucky owner of ticket number 4 (picked out by a Rotary member).

Thanks to everyone who came to see us – and help us raise £23 towards our bags and equipment.

A few of our volunteers returned to the Carrs this morning and cleared up some of the remaining litter. We collected 5 bags over the 2 days.

Litter Picking Summary – 3rd -> 6th June 2015

5 volunteers turned up on Wednesday for the first of the June 2015 litter picks. We met up near Hazelmere Nursing Home and tidied up the surrounding area. 8 bags of litter were collected altogether.

On Saturday 7 volunteers met up in the Summerfields car park. Some of us focussed in the area around the shops. Some of us headed out to tackle the bypass end of Colshaw Drive. The area near the footbridge over the bypass is particularly bad and we may need a dedicated session there soon. Another volunteer tackled the other entrance to Colshaw Drive and then headed down Dean Row Road and Manchester Road up to the border with Handforth near Wilmslow Garden Centre. We collected 12 bags altogether.

Well done everyone.

Wilmslow CleanTeam

Volunteer group helping to clean up the litter in Wilmslow