News Update : 29-MAY-22

Since the last news update we have:

a) Continued with our twice monthly litter picks :

5 volunteers met at The Parish Hall on a very wet morning on Wednesday 4th May.  We covered the surrounding area including The Carrs, Cliff Road, The Bollin Link and Lacey Green.  We collected 4 bags. We were delighted to welcome a new volunteer (Judith)

Wilmslow Clean Team Altrincham Road May 20225 volunteers met at The Honey Bee on Saturday 7th May. We covered Altrincham Road and the area around the airport tunnels. We collected around 6 bags and some debris

 

 

Thanks to everyone who participated.

b) Continued with our solo picks.

c) Held a joint litter picking exercise with Hickory’s (one of our leading co-sponsors) on Tuesday 24th May. Despite the poor weather 5 of our volunteers spent an hour focussing on the area from Hickory’s to Waters and collected 6 bags.  We then handed the reins over to a group of 12 from Hickory’s who focussed on the Lindow Common area. They had a great time collecting a further 6 bags, a burst tyre and a number plate. This was a very successfully joint exercise. Many thanks to Hickory’s for their ongoing support and for the courtesy coffees.

d) Liaised with the Halifax whose staff are planning on attending our scheduled pick on Saturday 4th June.  Really encouraging to have another business getting involved.

e) Began an exercise to review our current insurance provider and explore alternatives

f) Updated the bag count on the website. We collected over 50 bags in both March and April. This includes a contribution by some high school pupils who are doing their Duke of Edinburgh award.

Hope to see you at the June picks.

News Update : 01-MAY-22

Since the last news update we have:

a) Continued with our twice monthly litter picks :

7 volunteers met outside Lacey Green Park on Wednesday 6th April.  We covered Lacey Green and collected around 9 bags

5 volunteers met at Bank Square  on Saturday 9th April. We covered the town centre and collected 7 bags altogether

b) Continued with our solo picks.

c) Continued to discuss design of litter picking trolleys

d) Obtained a refund for our AGM meeting room booking at Wilmslow library. The meeting was cancelled due to Covid and we now have the option of a free meeting room at Hickory’s

e) Chased ANSA regarding the process for procuring new litter bins.

Hope to see you at the May picks.

News Update : 03-APR-22

Since the last news update we have:

a) Continued with our twice monthly litter picks :

6 volunteers met at The Farmer’s Arms on Wednesday 2nd March.  We covered Chapel Lane and the surrounding area including the side roads near Kenmore Medical Centre. We also covered the areas around Bollin Link, Buckingham Road and Lindow Common. We were pleased to welcome a new volunteer (Dorothy). We collected 8 bags altogether.

Wilmslow Clean Team - Summerfieds 05-MAR-226 volunteers met at Summerfields  on Saturday 5th March. We covered the surrounding area including Colshaw Drive and Kingsbury Drive.  This area is a litter hot spot and we collected a big haul of 13 bags.

 

 

b) Continued with our solo picks.

c) Held a committee meeting. Highlights include :

i) Reviewed our accounts.
ii) Discussed the annual “Spring Clean” this year – and voted against organising one this year. Hopefully we will be back on track in 2023.
iii)  Agreed to apply for a grant to help fund some trolleys – to help make litter picking accessible to more people.

Wilmslow Clean Team Window Stickeriv) Reviewed our “co-sponsor” initiative which is going very well – you may have seen our window stickers appearing in the town.

 

 

v) Agreed to set up a working party to review the best options for our annual insurance.
vi) Reviewed membership activity.  38 out of our 78 members have been actively involved in litter picking over the past 6 months.  We have had 9 new members.  Well done to everyone – but especially our chairman, Chris Evans, who leads the field with 12 picks.
vii) Discussed our annual involvement in helping clean up after the Wilmslow Show.  We will probably man a stand at this year’s event too – on 3rd July

d)  Corresponded with a group of Wilmslow High School pupils who are competing in a national competition called “Young Enterprise”.  Their aim is connect the community through cooking and baking – and they are doing a 10 minute litter pick for every recipe they receive.

Hope to see you at the April picks.

News Update : 27-FEB-22

Since the last news update we have:

a) Continued with our twice monthly litter picks :

9 volunteers met at Bank Square on Wednesday 2nd February and went for a post pick coffee in Konak Cafe.  We covered the surrounding area including Broadway, the High School entrance, the Station, the Leisure centre, Sainsbury Car Parks, Grove St, Grove Ave, Grove Way, the areas around the viaduct and the Ford Garage, Church Road,  the playground and car park by the Parish Hall and the Remembrance Gardens . We collected at least 15 bags and some recyclables.

12 volunteers met at The Honey Bee on Saturday 5th February. We spread out around the area as usual, with cars re-locating to near Eccups Lane,  Morley Green Garden Centre & near the Airport Hotel. We collected 15 bags plus a few large items. It was another damp morning but 7 of us enjoyed a coffee afterwards.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Liz for leading her first pick.

b) Continued with our solo picks.

c) Reported some fly tipping (including a litter bin !) to ANSA

d) Welcomed another co-sponsor – many thanks to Konak Café.  We now have 6 co-sponsors who have all contributed at least £50 to our funds :

e) Welcomed some new volunteers

f) Heard from Cllr Julie Dawn Potts that she has worked with ANSA to get 4 new litter bins installed : one on the path off Upcast Lane (opposite Lindow Cricket Club), one outside the wooden gates at Newgate Nature Reserve, one at the crossroads at the bottom of Newgate and one outside Peter Herd’s bakery on Chapel Lane .  Great news.

g) Responded to an enquiry from someone interested in setting up a litter picking team in Macclesfield

h) Reviewed our email distribution list – and removed some old members

i) Started to consider whether to re-introduce the annual Spring Clean

Hope to see you at the March picks.

News Update : 30-JAN-22

Since the last news update we have:

a) Continued with our twice monthly litter picks :

5 volunteers met at The King’s Arms on Wednesday 5th January.  We covered the surrounding area including Bedells Lane, Chapel Lane, Water Lane and in the town centre We collected at least 8 bags

Wilmslow Clean Team Post Litter Pick Hot Drink Hickorys 08-JAN-226 hardy volunteers met at Lindow Common car park on Saturday 8th January – despite the poor and very wet weather conditions.  We covered the surrounding area including Altrincham Road.  We collected at least 10 bags (plus some recyclables which were put in a grey bin).  Many thanks to Hickory’s SmokeHouse for their ongoing co-sponsorship and support of the Clean Team – and in particular for the complementary hot drinks – we really appreciated them!

b) Continued with our solo picks.

c) Progressed the involvement of some year 9 pupils at the high school who want to do litter picking for the volunteering section of their Duke of Edinburgh award – including clarifying our position regarding under 18s (i.e. we can lend equipment but are not responsible etc.)

d) Responded to some potential new volunteers who made contact via our website

e) Welcomed another co-sponsor – many thanks to Carlos Lopez.

f) Had an article published on the “Wilmslow’s Way Better” website

Hope to see you at the February pick

News Update : 29-DEC-21

Since the last news update we have:

a) Continued with our twice monthly litter picks :

7 volunteers met at Bank Square on Wednesday 1st December.  We covered the surrounding area including Bank Square, Green Lane, Church Street including the children’s playground on the Carrs, Bollin Link, Hawthorn Lane, Hawthorn Avenue and Parkway.  We collected at least 8 bags

5 volunteers met in Summerfields car park on a miserable morning on Saturday 4th December.  We covered the surrounding area including Colshsaw Drive and collected 11 bags and some recyclables (which were taken home and put in the grey bins)

Thanks to everyone who participated.

b) Continued with our solo picks.

c) Reported several incidents of fly tipping to ANSA.  One of them, on Colshaw Drive, was not on council owned land and so ANSA informed the housing association.

d) Held a meeting to review the roles on the committee

e) After some further committee discussion about levels of insurance cover, we cancelled the recently purchased policy with Zurich and renewed with our original provider.

f) Started discussions about how we can support some year 9 pupils at the high school who want to do litter picking for the volunteering section of their Duke of Edinburgh award.

Wishing you all the best for 2022 and hope to see you at the January picks.

News Update : 28-NOV-21

Since the last news update we have:

a) Continued with our twice monthly litter picks :

7 volunteers met at The Honey Bee on Wednesday 3rd November.  We covered the surrounding area including Altrincham Road and collected 9 bags.

11  volunteers met at the Parish Hall on Saturday 6th November including some children who came along with their parents. We covered the Parish Hall Car Park, The Carrs down to Twinies Bridge, Cliff Road, Old Road, Styal Road, Manchester Road and the footpath along the Bollin near The King William roundabout. 12 bags were collected.

As always, we were pleased to welcome some new faces.

Thanks to everyone who participated.

b) Continued with our solo picks.

c) Gratefully welcomed “The Big Fish” and “Mark Rogers” to our new “co-sponsor” scheme
https://wilmslowcleanteam.org.uk/get-involved/sponsors/

d) Planned in a meeting to better define the roles on the committee

e) Renewed our annual insurance – switching to Zurich who provided a more competitive quite

f) Provided equipment to David, an employee at “Pets At Home, so that he could litter pick for a day as part of their “Our World Better Pledge” initiative.  Great work David.

Hope to see you at our December picks – new volunteers welcome.

News Update : 31-OCT-21

Since the last news update we have:

a) Continued with our twice monthly litter picks :

6 volunteers met at Banks Square on Wednesday 6th October.  We covered the town centre and collected at least 8 bags.

Wilmslow Clean Team Litter Pick - Lacey Green October 20214 volunteers were out on Saturday 9th October.  3 met at Lacey Green Park and covered the surrounding area.  The 4th covered Knutsford Road, Alderley Road, the town centre, Manchester Road and Styal Road. 7 bags were collected altogether.

 

 

As always, we were pleased to welcome some new faces

b) Continued with our solo picks.

c) Welcomed a volunteer (Alistair) who was given time off as under his employer’s (Pets At Home) scheme.

d) Held a committee meeting.  The main focus was the structure around sponsorship by local companies.  Wilmslow Town Council has been our major sponsor recently with a significant grant.   We agreed on a standard approach to co-sponsorship from other local companies whereby they will donate £50 and be given a window sticker and a mention on our webpage :
We have already signed up Castletons Accountants to this scheme.

Hickory’s Smokehouse are also being considered a co-sponsor because they are providing us with a room for meetings, refreshments etc. They are very keen to help us as much as they can.

e) Responded to a business called “Warner House” who are exploring the possibility of “Employee volunteer days”

Hope to see you at our November picks – new volunteers welcome.

News Update : 26-SEP-21

Since the last news update we have:

a) Continued with our twice monthly litter picks :

9 volunteers met in Summerfields Car Park on Wednesday 1st September and picked in the  vicinity of Dean Row Rd. We collected 9 bags altogether plus a wooden board.

Wilmslow Clean Team Chapel Lane September 2021At  least 14 volunteers met at The Farmer’s Arms on Saturday 4th September.  We covered the surrounding area as well as venturing further afield and picking at the back of the row of shops from Sainsburys to Hoopers, Sainsbury’s car park, the area around Gorsey Bank school, Mobberley Road, Adlington Road, Hawthorn Street, Little Lindow etc. We estimate that 16 bags were collected altogether.  We would like to thank Chelsea Flowers for providing hot drinks to our volunteers after the pick.

We were delighted to see some new faces.  Well done everyone.

b) Continued with our solo picks.
c) Informed ANSA of fly tipping incidents – e.g. a mattress on the A34
d) Continued to liaise a local business about a potential big sponsorship deal
e) Responded to a contact made by the manager of Hickory’s who is interested in offering support to the Clean Team.
f) Started a project to encourage local businesses to sponsor us by donating £50 to our funds.  In return they will receive a window sticker and a mention on our website.  Thanks to our business co-ordinator Peter for his efforts on this.
g) Designed 2 separate prototypes for a trolley which could support 2 bags.  This would not only assist those members who struggle with the weight of the litter but would also allow us to more easily recycle cans, plastic bottles and glass bottles.  Recycling is something we ought to be encouraging more of.  Some of us take a smaller carrier sized bag with us – and collect cans and plastic bottles (which are very light) which we can take home and put in our grey bins.  The huge energy required to extract aluminium is really bad for the environment – so it will be great if we can help make sure that this kind of waste is not “single use”.
h) Started to consider how we might re-work a banner which could be used to advertise our activities
i) Battled with bureaucracy to try and change the committee members who can sign off cheques – due to recent changes to the committee.

Hope to see you at our October picks – new volunteers welcome.

News Update : 30-AUG-21

Since the last news update we have:

a) Continued with our twice monthly litter picks:

Held a litter pick at The Honey Bee on Wednesday 4th August.  We covered the surrounding area including Altrincham Road down towards the airport tunnels. Lovely to see some very young helpers.

Despite the poor weather, 9 volunteers met at Bank Square on Saturday 7th August.  We covered the town centre including the area around the railway station, the Leisure Centre, Church Street, the roundabout near the King William pub, Manchester Road.  At least 12 bags were collected.  We were delighted to welcome 3 new volunteers to this pick.

Well done everyone.

b) Continued with our solo picks.
c) Responded to interest from some new volunteers
d) Responded to a request from a local brownie group to borrow our equipment
e) Re-organised and cleaned the equipment held in our storage bunker
f) Liaised with a local business about a potential sponsorship deal
g) Written an article that we hope to get published in the “Inside Wilmslow” magazine
h) Had an article about us published on wilmslow.co.uk :
https://www.wilmslow.co.uk/news/article/21762/cleanteam-are-back-sprucing-up-the-streets
i) Responded to a contact made by Radio Manchester about a possible interview with the Clean Team.

Hope to see you at our September picks – new volunteers welcome.