Our project is to continue conducting community litter picks across the whole of Walsall and supporting the community to take more responsibility and making them feel pride in their patch. Working with Walsall Council, we will provide equipment to community members, host events and recruit volunteers to combat litter hotspots. We will provide training to further enhance knowledge and upskill our members. We will also visit schools to talk about pollution with students to raise awareness of what we do along with the affects that littering/pollution is having on our planet.
We will work closely with already established “Friends of” groups across the borough and help to create new groups in other greenspaces in order to deliver this project. This will be targeting areas such as Sister Dora Gardens, King George V Playing Fields, Moorcroft Wood, The Lea and Leamore Park. Through this, we will look after our nature, support recovery and reconnect people with the environment.
What we'll deliver:
- Purchasing of litter picking equipment
- Provision of volunteer training (litter picker leader, first aid, sharps awareness)
- Production of educational and marketing materials
- Educational workshops within school settings, youth groups and community groups
- Organisation of community litter picking events
- Engage with the local community to create Friends of Groups e.g. Friends of King George V Playing Fields
Why it's a great idea:
This project will create a cleaner greener Walsall for all to be proud of. Nature is our oldest and most fragile form of heritage and preserving it has never been more important.
Apart from just tackling the issue of litter, our community litter picks provide a fantastic opportunity for people to increase their social circles, enabling them to create new friendships, thus decreasing the growing concern of social isolation and loneliness.
Our project also follows the principles of Five Ways to Mental Wellbeing:
- Connect: with other members of the community with similar interests
- Be active: litter picking is good exercise
- Keep learning: education to schools and community groups and training opportunities
- Give to others: We are all volunteers giving to our community
- Take notice: opportunity for people to keep Walsall clean and tidy providing an instant opportunity to see the impact that their time is having.
Steps to get it done:
- We will collect a minimum of 15,000 bags of litter
- We will deliver a minimum of 4 litter picker leader training workshops
- We will provide a minimum of 4 first aid courses
- We will provide a minimum of 4 sharps awareness courses
- We will create at least 5 new area specific litter picking groups
- We will recruit 250 new litter pickers
- We will hold a minimum of 24 community litter picks
This project will build community resilience and sustainability through:
1. Promoting the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical, natural and social environment of the local area.
2.Providing and developing, in cooperation with Walsall Council, facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or leisure time occupation in order to improve conditions of life for local residents and to encourage use of such facilities by all sections of the local community.
3. Advancing public education about ways to conserve, protect and improve the physical, natural and social environment.
4. Cooperating with other statutory, private sector or voluntary bodies in the achievement of the above objectives.
The project will support implementation of the new Walsall Heritage Strategy and Action Plan and National Lottery Heritage Fund’s key outcomes to celebrate our community heritage within our green spaces and sites.
