Kapow! Super litter pickers get to work...
saVInG the planet is all in a day’s work for your average superhero.
so when Wonder Woman, superman, Batman and aquaman decided to join forces, the scourge of rubbish certainly took a heavy pounding.
Young litter pickers dressed as their heroes as they spent an afternoon clearing up an historic park.
The gathering was organised by eightyear-old elizabeth Gadsdon as part of Tidy Britain Group’s Great British spring clean, which is backed by the Daily mail.
elizabeth, who dressed as Wonder Woman, formed the group in 2017. It has 23 members who are all primary school children from around the Wirral.
The youngsters volunteer to help rangers at Birkenhead Park, which was the world’s first publicly-funded civic park and has two million visitors a year. elizabeth’s mother Faith, 43, a firefighter, said of sunday’s litter pick: ‘elizabeth’s group went out looking for small things such as plastic packaging and cigarette ends.
‘They filled three bags in the end – two of general waste and another with mixed recyclables.
‘There were 23 children and about 20 parents and guardians.’
It’s not the first time that elizabeth’s group, who are called the Little collector crew, have donned superhero outfits. They did the same at a litter pick for the 2018 Great British spring clean.
The Little collector crew grew out of an idea elizabeth had which her parents put to the park’s rangers. To begin with, there were just a handful of children involved but the number has grown.
mrs Gadsdon added: ‘The children who go litter picking also look after the area outside their houses and local parks around the Wirral. elizabeth arranges for them to have a high vis jacket and graptor – a children’s litter picking device – so they can carry on their work throughout each month.’
Laura Williams, the park’s ranger who helps run the Little collector crew, said: ‘elizabeth and the other children who are doing this are the perfect role models for the younger generation of children. I think it’s amazing.’
Paul Davies, the park’s manager, added: ‘ These children send a message that it’s not acceptable to drop litter. They volunteer alongside our rangers. The children are wearing superhero costumes because that’s exactly what they are. They are going out doing a valuable job, which is helping to protect wildlife.’
There are now 535,272 people signed up for the Great British spring clean, which runs until april 23.
Groups and individuals across the country are joining in the effort to remove litter and make parks, open spaces and verges pristine once again.
Full details are available through the Tidy Britain Group’s website www.keepbritaintidy.org – including litter picks in your local area needing volunteers.