VIDEO - Leadenham villagers seek to inspire others to join anti-litter campaign

A ‘Stick up for your Environment’ event held last Wednesday in Leadenham sought to inspire others to take more positive action against litter and flytipping in their communities.
By Andy Hubbert
Published 5th Apr 2019, 07:00 BST
Stick up for your environment event at Leadenham village hall. Leadenham Primary School's Woodpeckers class pupils and members of the School Council, litter picking with Lisa Ashcroft.Stick up for your environment event at Leadenham village hall. Leadenham Primary School's Woodpeckers class pupils and members of the School Council, litter picking with Lisa Ashcroft.
Stick up for your environment event at Leadenham village hall. Leadenham Primary School's Woodpeckers class pupils and members of the School Council, litter picking with Lisa Ashcroft.

The event was organised by Leadenham Litter Picking Group, Leadenham Primary School and supported by Leadenham Parish Council and saw information displays at the village hall and litter picking by school children around the playing field behind.The small village suffers from a lot of litter from passing traffic on the main A17 and A607 roads.Parish clerk Hilary Proctor explained: “We got fed up and now have a volunteer Litter picking group which goes out once a month and you would not believe the amount we collect monthly.”The 23 sacks of rubbish found in March, plus old wheels, furniture, car parts, scrap, wipes, bottles of urine, condoms and other unwanted debris found were put on show, as well as displays by West Kesteven Wildlife Watch to demonstrate the effect this can have on animal and plant life, besides the unpleasant effect it has on the character of this attractive village. Representatives of other parish and district councils came along as well as the public. The district council has secured £20,000 to support more voluntary litter picking groups with equipment.Mrs Proctor said: “I have spoken to Welbourn parish council and they said they are going to try and do something too, provided they can get the volunteers. That was our aim - to inspire others.”The event coincided with the Great British Spring Clean national initiative led by Keep Britain Tidy organisation.Launched in November 2017, the Leadenham group collected up to 95 large black bags of litter from verges and streets. Pupils at the village primary school have produced 30 posters and said they got involved because a lot of plastic litter was found in and around their grounds. Pupils use grabbers and bags to pick up litter around the school during break times. One girl said: “I’m going to ask my dad if we can try and pick up more litter around our house. We have sheep in our fields and it is bad for them.”

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