Face masks and a toilet seat recovered in River Witham clean-up in Grantham
Members of Grantham RiverCare were joined by volunteers from across the community to help clear bags of litter and waste from the River Witham.
As part of the Great Big Green Week, a nationwide celebration of action on climate change, Grantham RiverCare carried out their 108th litter pick with the help of 20 volunteers last month.
They focused their efforts across Queen Elizabeth Park and the streets surrounding Wyndham Park. They were were joined by Sue, the community champion from Grantham Morrisons, who helped on the day and donated refreshments to keep the volunteers going.
RiverCare & BeachCare have also been supported for a number of years by Anglian Water.
Employees from their strategic pipeline alliance (SPA) team set about cleaning-up a stretch of the River Witham last week as part of Anglian Water’s RiverCare project.
A total of 15 waste sacks of litter was collected across the two clean-up days, including 60 plastic bottles, 32 glass bottles, 86 drink cans, one bike, a traffic cone and a metal frame.
Craig Hopkinson, sustainability manager at SPA, said: “Environmental sustainability is at the heart of our programme – delivering up 500 kilometres of new water pipelines to keep fresh, clean water flowing across our region; but an important part of that is also to support the important work of dedicated volunteer groups like Grantham RiverCare, and others around our region.”
Ian Simmons, of Grantham Rivercare, is delighted with everyone’s efforts, adding: “Both days benefit from our adopted motto - “it never rains on a RiverCare collection!”
The RiverCare & BeachCare Programme is a partnership programme between Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) and Anglian Water, and is delivered by KBT and fully funded by Anglian Water.
Currently supporting 50 local community groups to litter pick, undertake citizen science projects and act as guardians of their local watercourse or beach.
It encourages local groups to tackle litter, carry out wildlife surveys and habitat improvements in a safe and rewarding way.
Grantham RiverCare will mark its 17th birthday this month (October) after originally starting up in 2004 by John Knowles as part of Grantham Civic Society, with 25 enthusiastic volunteers.
They have since clocked up over 5,000 hours helping to keep their 1.8 mile adopted stretch of the River Witham clean and healthy for everyone to enjoy.
For more information on Grantham RiverCare, contact Ian Simmons on 07950 000928 or David Martin on 07739 864490, or find the group on Facebook.
