Civic Pride blog: The Great British Spring Clean

Civic Pride’s Roger Grimshaw updates on the Great British Spring Clean.

Good things come to those who wait, they say! The Beast from the East and its offspring may have delayed Civic Pride’s plans but they certainly didn’t stop the Great British Spring Clean!

Last Saturday saw 12 Civic Pride volunteers and 3 McDonalds staff fan out across Rawtenstall to clear 47 bags of rubbish plus other larger detritus including a car tyre, a freezer and even a crutch! It was great to see two new volunteers join us and we hope they’ll do more but we can’t guarantee a free meal at McDonalds every time! Thank you to the council for removing it all on Saturday afternoon.

Sunday dawned bright and clear (albeit an hour earlier) and as one of our volunteers commented at 6am, ‘with the sun shining and the birds singing I was reminded why I pick litter!’

At 10am a group met on the Carrs Industrial Estate in Haslingden collecting 30 plus bags.

However, the story doesn’t end there. On Monday, Rossendale Borough Council were true to their word and collected fly tipping from 93 different locations! It would be easy to criticise them for allowing the build-up but the responsibility surely lies with those who have no respect for the environment and dump the rubbish in the first place.

All in all, a remarkable achievement albeit that it would not have been necessary if everyone disposed of their litter with more concern for the area in which they live!