Ethos Public Relations Manchester

Local children lead the way in Stibbard community clean-up

by Ethos public relations

Local school children from All Saints Stibbard Church of England Primary School in Fakenham, Norfolk, picked up their litter grabbers and set to work on their very own community clean-up operation, to help raise awareness of Greener Together – the co-operative way, an initiative run by Co-operatives UK.

The youngsters, aged between four and eleven, with a little help from their parents, picked up litter from across Stibbard village as part of a combined initiative between Ryburgh Village Shop in Norfolk and All Saints Stibbard Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School.

The team started off at the school, picking up anything that had blown up against the school fences, and then split into two groups to cover each end of the village. The litter pickers returned to the school via the local playing field to complete their clean up operation.

All Saints Stibbard Church of England Primary School currently holds the Eco schools Silver Award and the litter pick also helped to support the school's eco activities.

Teacher and Eco schools co-ordinator, Dawn Burden, said: "I was really pleased that we were able to help with the litter pick. Keeping our school on top of litter is difficult especially in the winter months when the wind blows it out of the bins!

“Lending a hand within our community is an area that we are good at as a school and welcome new opportunities to do our best for others. We had a fantastic time picking up the litter and thoroughly enjoyed throwing the leaves up in the air, and at each other!"

The next community event for the Ryburgh Greener Together team will be another litter pick, in the village of Great Ryburgh which will take place early in the New Year.

Greener Together – the co-operative way helps co-operatives make a significant impact on climate change, and reduce their environmental impact in the three key areas of energy, waste and personal transport.

Part of the Greener Living Fund, sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the project aims to help people to live in a more sustainable way, by focusing on the small actions every individual can take in their daily lives and enables member organisations of Co-operatives UK, the Confederation of Co-operative Housing (CCH) and the Plunkett Foundation to work with their members and customers in achieving greener behaviour.

To find out more about Greener Together, visit the website at www.greenertogether.coop.

Posted at 15^th December 2010