Teamwork boost for clean-up campaign
Cambuslang clean-up campaigners have taken strides in expanding their litter picking mission after getting youngsters from a local group involved.
The Cleaning Up Cambuslang initiative only started in March this year, but many have already got onboard to help tackle fly-tipping and dumped waste in the area.
At present, the group has over 600 members and they are now looking at new ways to engage with locals to make the community a cleaner place to live and visit.
Last month, volunteers met up with members of Cathkin’s Duke of Edinburgh (DoE) awards scheme to hand over brand new litter picking equipment.
Thanks to a grant given by Ikea and the National Lottery Fund, over £1000 was spent to purchase litter pickers, litter hooks, gloves and bags for the youth group which will help clean up the area.
And ahead of COP26 taking place in Glasgow, the Cambuslang community are eager to raise awareness of environmentally friendly issues.
Organiser Liisa Hepworth said: “We were delighted to hear about the DoE volunteers wanting to get involved – it’s been great to engage with more people.
“The idea was to give out the equipment to groups already up and running and able to help with the litter picking out and about in Cambuslang.
“We’re looking to reach out to other groups willing to help with the regular litter picks so we encourage anyone to get in contact with our group. We’d like to hear from them and join in the great work in the community.”
Cleaning Up Cambuslang are also helping to tackle fly-tipping in the community and hope to work towards areas being monitored in future to help prevent items being dumped illegally.
However, since launching, the group has grown in numbers as well as progress, removing hundreds of bags of rubbish from all over.
Liisa added: “We’re always looking for ideas and ways to engage with the community and also work with the local authority with their litter strategy.
“There’s groups all over Cambuslang that take part and we also organise big litter picking events which have been very successful.”
The young volunteers have loved getting involved in the litter picking and showing how invested they are in sustaining their local area.
Cheryl Burnett, co-ordinator of the Cathkin DoE group, told us: “As a group we started litter picking during the summer ourselves and when we saw the cleaning up initiative we were keen to see if we can support it.
“We have been out cleaning in the local area and keeping Whitlawburn clean and linking in with our DoE awards has been fantastic.
“The kids have really been enjoying the whole idea and we’ve loved being a part of it.
“Utilising the kids and showing those at a younger age the benefits of sustaining something and looking after the place that you live in makes a huge difference.
“Having this litter initiative is great because it shows that the kids are invested in keeping things clean and investing in their community.
“It’s been fantastic what they’re doing and really important to show them that what they’re doing is making a difference.”
The young volunteers will take part in litter picking events weekly with their new equipment.