Southside Community Litter Pick

Since our previous report, all procurement for the project has been completed, this included all equipment such as; pickers, bags, hi vis jackets and waistcoats, gloves (needle proof) and safe needle disposal kits, graffiti removal gel and wipes.  We have also procured warden services and city council waste management services on assisting us in the removal of the rubbish and the disposal of large, bulky or dangerous items which we do not wish the volunteers to handle.

Community Litter picks now take place every Sunday at 3pm with a rendezvous point outside the BID offices and we recruit volunteers from the business and residential communities. 

Each pick starts with a 5 minute Health and Safety briefing at the meeting location.  Each volunteer is issued with equipment, Hi vis clothing, a map of the site, an emergency contact number and split into groups, each one is accompanied by a BID staff member to ensure the safety and well being of our volunteers at all times.

Average volunteer numbers are between 10 – 15, but on several occasions where we have collaborated with community groups such as the New Church of Birmingham and also large companies such as Doocey, we have had up to 30 volunteers on the pick.  Average bags collected per week range between 10 on a quiet Sunday and up to 30 on a busy Bank Holiday Sunday.

Business feedback has been incredibly positive, particularly in the removal of small items, such as smoking litter and large, fly tipped items which are often missed during the city council street cleansing.  Furthermore, the litter pick on Sunday, deals with a lot of the waste made during the night time economy on Saturday night and really supplements the reduced council service on Sunday afternoons and evenings.  At our last survey, Southside businesses rated our streets a 8 out of 10, versus in 2022 when we got a rating of only 5 in terms for street cleanliness.

We anticipate the scheme to continue throughout 2023 and beyond the project period, we also hope to link this scheme to our other volunteer schemes with West Midlands Police such as Rainbow Streetwatch.