Tag Archives: Cheshire East

News Update : 29-AUG-26

Since the last news update, we have:

1) Continued with our monthly scheduled litter pick :

10 volunteers met at The King’s Arms on Saturday 01-AUG-26. Areas covered included Sainsbury and Hoopers car parks, Knutsford Road, Gravel Lane, Bedell’s Lane, Alderley Road, the fire station area including the adjacent park, Bollin Link, Gravel Lane, Newlands Drive, Moor Lane., Buckingham Road, Altrincham Road and the Carnival fields. We collected at least 12 bags and some recyclables.

b) Continued with our solo picks:

Areas covered include Prestbury Road, Morley Green Road, Lacey Green (including the park) and Styal Road.

Many thanks to everyone who did a solo pick – especially Chris E., Liz, Yoko and Andrew.

c) Held a committee meeting. The main points arising were :

1. We need to source some new funds. Stuart will be applying for a grant from a fund that Manchester Airport provide to local community groups.
2. Started an exercise to design some new posters that we intend to display in and around the town (Sainsburys, Waitrose etc.)
3. Agreed that, where a suitable venue exists, the leader of each monthly litter pick will organise a “post pick tea/coffee” in a local café/pub. We think this will be possible at all our venues with the exception of Lacey Green. Please get details from the leader at the start of each pick.
4. Confirmed that some committee members will attend the “Wilmslow Brunch Network” event at the Reform Church Halls on 19-SEP-26. We hope to attract support from some local businesses.

d) Continued to support the students who are litter picking for the voluntary section of their Duke of Edinburgh scheme – including engaging with a new student.

e) Responded to enquiries from potential new volunteers.

f) Responded to a request from Mobberley Primary School who would like us to give a talk about litter.

g) Updated the safety form that new volunteers sign and tweaked the safety guidelines on the website

h) Liaised with Cheshire East regarding a new mechanism they suggested for reporting litter picks. After some discussion we have agreed to stick to our current approach as it works better for us.

News Update : 30-MAR-26

Since the last news update, we have:

a) Continued with our twice monthly litter picks :

7 volunteers met at The Farmer’s Arms, in pleasant sunshine, on Wednesday 04-MAR-26. We collected 11 bags. The areas covered included Alderley Road, Broadway, the High School entrance, Parkway, the area around BP garage and parts of Sainsbury’s car park. Tom & Dan, the two recently appointed full-time Rangers, employed by Wilmslow Town Council, came to introduce themselves. They routinely collect lots of litter around the town during their work to improve the street scene, which also involves mud & vegetation scraping/sign cleaning and removal of obsolete signage. We enjoyed a “post pick” coffee in the new coffee outlet sited near the front door of the pub, run by the landlord’s daughter Holly.

5 volunteers met at Summerfields on Saturday 04-MAR-26. We covered the surrounding area including Colshaw Drive. We collected 10 bags.

b) Continued with our solo picks. Areas covered include the leisure centre, the town centre, Dean Row Road, Moor Lane, “The Temp” (communal garden), the area around Hazelmere Care Home, Grange Park Avenue, Styal Road, Lacey Green, Morley Green Road, Altrincham Road, Adlington Road, Hough Lane and Prestbury Road. Many thanks to everyone who did a solo pick – especially Gareth, Ann, Helen, Liz, Margaret, Wil, Chris E., Alex and Andrew. Apologies if I missed anyone !

c) Reported some fly tipping on the Lindfield Estate to Cheshire East.

d) Manned a stall at the inaugural “Wilmslow Community Fair”. This was an event organised by Wilmslow Town Council and held in The United Reformed Church on Sunday 08-MAR-26. It was a showcase for local community groups. 45 groups manned stalls and 1333 visitors attended. We welcomed quite a few visitors to our stall. Hopefully, some of them will be tempted to become litter pickers. See the following website for more information about the event, a video and some photos (including one of the Clean Team) :
https://www.wilmslowtowncouncil.gov.uk/connectedwilmslow-fair-review/

e) Continued to support existing, and welcomed new, students doing litter picking for the voluntary section of their Duke of Edinburgh scheme.

f) Continued efforts to include Wilmslow Fire Brigade in a future litter pick.

g) Further planning for our attendance at a conference of local litter picking groups which is being held in Sandbach on 11-APR-26

h) Contacted Cheshire East to see if there is a way that they could provide us with free parking at our litter picking events. Unfortunately, this is not possible.

i) Liaised with a potential volunteer who wants to litter pick as part of the 2 days that his company allow for community activities.

News Update : 01-MAR-26

Since the last news update, we have:

a) Continued with our twice monthly litter picks :

7 volunteers met at Bank Square on Wednesday 04-FEB-26. We collected 10 bags plus 1 bag of recyclables. We were pleased to welcome Helen who has recently started a role at Wilmslow Town Council supporting community groups.

4 volunteers met at The Honey Bee on Saturday 07-FEB-26. We covered Altrincham Road from Waters down the roundabout before the airport tunnels. We collected 8 bags plus 3 bags of recyclables.

b) Continued with our solo picks. Areas covered include Grove Avenue, Water Lane, Hawthorne Street, Albert Road, Eccups Lane and Morley Green Road. Many thanks to everyone who did a solo pick – especially Peter, Chris, Liz and Gareth. Apologies if I missed anyone !

c) Held our AGM. We have sufficient funds to continue operating. Some of the other topics are covered below.

d) Continued to support Gareth who is volunteering with us, for 3 months, as part of the Duke of Edinburgh scheme. He has completed 7 solo picks now and we are very grateful.

e) Started the process of welcoming another Duke of Edinburgh volunteer on board.

f) Agreed that we will man a stall at the “Wilmslow Community Fair”. This Is a new initiative being organised by Wilmslow Town Council. It is being held in The United Reformed Church Hall from 15:00->17:00 on Sunday 08-MAR-26. It will allow visitors to see which local groups exist in Wilmslow and what they are involved with. The groups will be able to raise awareness. Hopefully, this will lead to some new volunteers :
Wilmslow Community Fair

g) Liaised with a group called RRT who have offered to assist us at a litter pick (e.g. providing extra volunteers, coffee etc) – we are still considering their offer.

h) Started to plan the reduction of scheduled picks from 2 a month down to 1. This is unfortunate but we really struggle to get leaders. The committee will be holding a meeting soon to plan how we implement this and how we can continue to supply bags etc. to solo pickers. We are also considering the introduction of a get together for a coffee after every pick.

i) Started to plan attendance at a conference of local litter picking groups. This will be in Sandbach on 11-APR-26.

j) Contacted Cheshire East to discuss the support they provide for litter picking groups. We questioned whether they could any parking concessions for litter picking events but is not possible. They can potentially assist us by promoting our work on their social media channels.

k) Contacted Cheshire East to see if a visit to their recycling facility would be possible. Unfortunately, it isn’t but this web page / video might be of interest:
What Happans To Waste And Recycling In Cheshire East

l) Invited Ester McVey to a litter pick on 06-JUN-26 – another attempt to raise our profile.

January 2020 Litter Pick Summary And Other News

A Happy New Year to all our volunteers and supporters.

We normally arrange 2 litter picks every month : on the first Wednesday and following Saturday As January’s Wednesday pick would have fallen on New Years Day this year, we moved it a week later.

So, our first pick of 2020 was on Saturday 4th January. We had an amazing turnout with 16 volunteers – possibly a record. We met at Bank Square and spread out in all directions. Having so many volunteers allowed us to cover most of the town centre – which is looking a lot tidier as a result.

We were concerned by the amount of litter in and around Broadway Meadows car park – and the lack of bins. We have tried and failed in the past to get a new bin installed (due to a lack of funding) but we have asked ANSA (Cheshire East’s contractor) once again. ANSA confirmed that the request is still on their list for consideration. We have also asked ANSA to clean up the far end of the car park where the recycling bins used to be – and they have agreed to see to this. We have also asked them to remove a fly tipped tyre and paint from the bottom end of the car park.

We collected at least 29 bags, a tyre and at least I bag of recyclables at the Saturday pick.

Our second pick of the year was on Wednesday 8th January. 8 volunteers met outside the gates of the park in Lacey Green on Barlow Moor Road. We covered the whole of the park area, Barlow Moor Road, Lacey Green, halfway down Egerton Road, Cranford Road and Mount Pleasant – not a bad morning’s work.

We collected 12 bags of litter making it at least 41 in total at our 2 scheduled picks.

In addition, there have been a lot of solo picks recently which have helped us get off to a flying start in 2020 – with 56 bags collected altogether in the past month. Great work everyone.

The committee are going to discuss the possibility of some A boards which we can put up when we are doing litter picks – to raise awareness and attract new volunteers.

We made contact with “Run North West Limited” to discuss the issue of plastic bottle littering after their recent “Festive 10k” run

We are trying to help a Handforth resident who raised a concern about the amount of litter being thrown from cars on the bypass towards the airport. We have contacted ANSA to see if they can provide any further information / assistance.

November 2019 Litter Pick Summary And Other News

9 volunteers met at Bank Square on Wednesday 6th November. We covered Hawthorn Lane, Bank Square, Green Lane, Holly Road, Swan Street, Station Road, the station forecourt, the Leisure Centre, Grove Street and Alderley Road. We collected 10 bags altogether.

8 volunteers met at The Honey Bee on Saturday 9th November. We picked along the A538 (Altrincham Rd) and collected a total of 16 bags plus various hub caps and other items. Viv, who regularly picks in this area, reported that “It was absolutely dreadful – I’ve never seen it so bad”.

We were disappointed to see that the glass in the bus shelter (near the Airport Inn Hotel) had been vandalised. We have asked our contact at Cheshire East to report this to the relevant department.

Anyway – at least 26 bags at our 2 scheduled picks contributing to a total of 38 over the past month.

In other news :

We have renewed our annual insurance.
We held an “Extraordinary General Meeting” on Monday 28th October to agree changes to our constitution. The main changes are because of the recent GDPR requirements and because we have made a decision (after consulting with CVS Cheshire East) that only people of 18 years and over can be Wilmslow Clean Team members. People under 18 are very welcome to attend litter picks but only if they are supervised by a responsible adult.
We are liaising with Lindow School who would like to borrow our equipment. Year 4 are learning about things they can do to support their local community. This is a fantastic initiative.

Well done everyone – see you in December

Litter Picking Summary 7th + 10th August 2019

We have been very busy this month with 5 organised litter picks, since the last update, rather than the usual 2 – along with some fantastic solo efforts!

9 volunteers met at The Carnival Fields on Monday 8th July to help with the clean up operation after The Wilmslow Show. We collected a bag each.

There were 2 “In Bloom” judging events this year. We did an extra litter pick on Monday 22nd July so that the town was looking at its best for the regional round of judging. 10 volunteers turned up for an evening pick. We collected 12 bags of litter altogether in and around the town centre. 6 additional bags were collected on solo picks.

11 volunteers met at The Honey Bee at 10:00 on Wednesday 7th August. Again – we were delighted to welcome 2 new volunteers. We focused on Altrincham Road down to the airport tunnels – traditionally one of the worst areas for litter in Wilmslow. We collected 15 bags plus several hub caps. We also reported some fly tipping, near the airport fire station, to ANSA. The 2nd of our “In Bloom” events was on the same evening – this time in preparation for the National judging (Wilmslow is representing the North West this year). About 8 volunteers met up in the evening collecting a bag each.

Last but not least, despite blustery weather, 8 volunteers met at The Parish Hall, on Saturday 10th August. The park was reasonably litter free due to recent activity for the Bloom judging. We spread out covering the Carr’s (to Twinnies Bridge), Stanneylands Road, Prestbury Road, The Memorial Gardens and the footpaths near Trust Ford. We collected at least 9 bags along with hub caps and some recyclables. We also informed ANSA about a large gas canister that has been washed up near Twinnies Bridge.

So – a massive monthly litter haul of 60 bags. Well done everyone. Fingers crossed for the “In Bloom” judging later in the year.

We also reported some dangerous overhanging vegetation (on Altrincham Road) to Cheshire East Council

Wilmslow Improvements Walkabout – Thursday 11th December 2014

Sally, one of our volunteers, represented Wilmslow Clean Team on a walk around the town to identify problem areas and creating a wish list of suggestions that will make the town look better. Ansa, Cheshire East Council and Wilmslow Town Council and Incredible Edible were also represented.

Here are a couple of litter related suggestions :

Pulling out scrubby, prickly bushes in certain areas where litter collects, and replacing with grass (e.g. the hedge between the bp petrol station and Alderley Road)
Installing new bins near the station.

It was good to hear everyone passing on their thanks for the work that the Clean Team are doing

Litter Picking Event Summary – 9th July 2014

We got together for an extra litter pick today. This was to clean the town in preparatation for the judging of the Britain In Bloom 2014 competition (the judges are in Wilmslow on 10th July).

Only 5 volunteers were available but we did a good job and covered a large area – most of the focus was on the route that the judges will take.

The areas covered were :

We met at the Boddington Arms and then concentrated on the route that the judges will be taking. So – the focus was on the following areas :

Lindow Common + Car Park
Racecourse Road
Altrincham Road
Water Lane
Hawthorn Street
Bedells Lane
Alderley Road
Sainsbury’s Car Park
Grove Street
Church Street
Manchester Road
Memorial Gardens
The Carrs
Leisure Centre
Station

We collected about 7 bags of rubbish.

It looked as though the town had undergone more cleaning work than we have come to expect because the town centre seemed cleaner than normal. This could well be down to some of the recent scheduled litter picking events by the Clean Team though.

We did spot a council road sweeping vehicle cleaning the gutters in Racecourse Road this morning. This activity has become almost non existent in Wilmslow. It makes a massive difference in terms of the appearance of the roads and in the prevention of problems with the storm drains. It is a shame that it takes an annual competition for a limited amount of this activity to be performed in our town.

Thanks and well done to all today’s volunteers. Hope to see you all in the Coach & Four later tonight for our social night.

Wilmslow CleanTeam Will Be At The Cheshire Show On 17th June 2014

Some representatives from Wilmslow Clean Team will be at the Cheshire Show on 17th June 2014. We will be on the Cheshire East stand which is inbetween the band stand and the main ring.

We are helping Cheshire East to promote the region as a great place to live and work.

It will be a good opportunity for us to promote the voluntary work that we do.

If you are attending the show then please come and find us – we would be pleased to tell you more about the Wilmslow Clean Team.