The UK’s Growing Litter Army: The Ross Community Clean-up Crew

The UK’s Growing Litter Army: The Ross Community Clean-up Crew

From small acorns, great things can grow, and that’s exactly what happened when The Ross Community Litter Clean-up Crew (RCLCUC) was formed in February last year. From a group of three friends, the group has blossomed into a fully-fledged clean-up operation that has collected a ton of litter from the streets and pathways of the town.

Big plans for the future

They took part in the Great British Spring Clean and they have big plans for this year including:

• Recruiting more volunteers
• Recycling more of the litter they collect during their litter picks
• Working with schools and youth groups to teach the younger generation about litter
• Working with businesses in Ross-on-Wye and encouraging them to sign the ‘Stop the Drop’ Pledge. Many retailers have already signed up to the pledge to keep the pavements and curbs outside of their premises free from litter and cigarette butts to make the area nicer to live and work in.

If you would like to find out more about the group, or join in a litter pick if you live in the area, find them on Facebook here.

Herefordshire anti-litter groups receive a funding boost

The group, plus many like them, have had an extra reason to smile as anti-litter groups in Herefordshire were given more than £30,000 of funding from the government in the 2018-19 financial year. Councils used the funding to buy litter picking equipment, hi-vis vests, and rubbish bags, provide first aid training for volunteers, and more. The council asked local anti-litter groups what the money would be best spent on and it used their ideas and suggestions to put the funds to good use. Anti-litter groups say they were delighted to receive the funding as it has enabled them to grow, reach out to more people, and hold more litter picking events.

Herefordshire Council said instead of allocating grants to groups, the decision was made to work with them to allocate funds where it was most needed and where it would do the most good.