Litter Picking to Clean up our Regional Communities
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Published 30 Sep 2021 in Communities
1 Hour, 20 Regional Community Hub Sites & over 350 Colleagues, Active Members & Young People. Our Local Community Litter Pick Launch Day took place on 23rd September this year with over 200 bags of litter collected from our local community streets. A big well done to everyone who took part! 🗑
Our aim was to show how proud we are of our local communities, by working together to tackle the issue of litter on our high streets, local green spaces and residential areas. Along with the support of our colleagues and active members, together, we did just that!
The day was the first of our year-long programme of community litter picks, with all 20 of our Regional Communities attending. It turned out to be a huge success. Even just one hour of your time and the smallest of activities, can and does have, a real impact – so a massive thank you to everyone that took part!
Have a look at some of the pictures we captured below:
Banbury litter pick
Bicester RC and surrounding stores
Bucks RC litter pick from around Hazelmere
Bucks RC litter pick from around Hazelmere 2
Bucks RC litter pick from around Hazelmere 3
Cannock Chase litter pick
Central Oxford litter pick
Cheltenham Litter pick from Bath Road
Chipping Norton litter pick
Codsall litter pick
Cotswolds RC at Bourton Food with Society President Helen Wiseman
Forest of Dean RC litter pick
Leamington & Warwick - Cape Road
Sedgley & Dudley litter pick
Stroud litter pick
Swindon litter pick
Walsall RC litter pick
Walsall RC litter pick 2
White Horse litter pick
Wolverhampton litter pick
Wyre Forest - Cleobury Mortimer litter pick
Banbury - "We really enjoyed the litter pick and it was great to make a difference to the communities that we serve, we spoke to a few members of the local community who congratulated us for the work we were doing, it got quite competitive at times as to who could find the oldest or most obscure piece of litter!"
Bath Road –"Cam - We had numerous people saying thank you to us, and it was nice to be recognised by local shoppers out and about as well.”
Bicester - "A massive thank you to all those colleagues that attended today’s litter pick, and to those that worked in-store to allow us to have the turnout! I really appreciate you taking the time as I know it’s tough with cover at the moment and a couple of you came to support on your day off! Thank you!"
Bucks - "Lauren – “I’m surprised how much rubbish there was but it was very therapeutic picking it all up & making our local park a nicer place”.
Darren – “I’ve really enjoyed doing this, much more than I thought actually! It was fun to talk to colleagues from other stores and do our bit for the community."
Cannock Chase -"One thing that we all picked up on (excuse the pun) was the amount of PPE material that was discarded on our litter pick, which just highlights the new environmental challenge we all face."
Central Oxford - "Such a great day for a litter pick", "It’s so great to be able to get back out and help our community"
Cheltenham & Gloucester - "We had numerous people saying thank you to us, and it was nice to be recognised by local shoppers out and about as well."
Cotswolds - "It was great to see our Regional Community back in action, with the support of Rissington and Bourton alongside our president Helen Wiseman, helping to clean up Bourton. Not as many facemasks as we’d thought but pleasing to see we have made a difference in our local community." 😀
Forest of Dean - "Member of the public – “this is brilliant, can I join you next time?” (details passed on).
Alan Cratchley – “I never expected to find so much litter in what I would have said was a really clean town, it just goes to show what an issue it is and what a difference we can help to make.”
Leah Creed – “what a great thing to do for the community”.
Danny Farmer – “great morning and had lots of positive comments from passers-by”.
Chris Chandler – “as always the Forest of Dean team have done a brilliant job for their Regional Community and it was so well received”
Kidlington & NW Oxford - Two members said “You’re doing a great job, keep up the good work,” another member said “This is a great service to the community, it’s a shame that the locals don’t take the same approach to keep them clean)
Leamington & Warwick - "We had a wonderful time litter picking, it was great to do our bit for the environment"
Sedgley & Dudley - Just Straight Talk “Great to be a part of this and supporting Your Co-op – you help us with so much so it’s great to support your initiatives too!
Shropshire -“A fulfilling way to spend the morning in our local community, I’m really impressed to see how engaged the school children are and it's not raining!” Helen – Member from Bicton Heath School.
South Staff Villages -"Great opportunity to get out and do something for the community" - Codsall school pupil. "Doing a great job thank you" - a member of the public to Simon Codsall, Food Store Manager. "Nice to get thanked by public seeing what we are doing" - member public to Codsall store colleague.
Stroud - Quote from one of our colleagues John Woodward "I really enjoyed it, great company, lovely scenery. Was so rewarding to pick up cans and bottles that could otherwise hurt the wildlife. highly recommend and defo would do again." We also received thanks from people in the community who really appreciated our efforts. Our colleague Adam Dickenson “Volunteering for the litter picking around my local Co-op was a really satisfying couple of hours - not only did we get to clean up the local area we also got to interact with some of the community too. To hear how grateful some of them were was a heart-warming experience and will definitely want to get involved with it again”
Swindon - "Fantastic event, thanks for helping to keep our local area litter-free."
Walsall - "Brilliant teamwork, well-done to team Walsall RC."
West Oxon - "Lots of members of the public were really interested and pleased to see what we were doing, we had several requests of the public wanting to join in, and we advised them to keep an eye out for the next litter pick in the store. Lots of positive comments throughout the walk."
White Horse - "A few local residents engaged during litter pick thanking the team and saying what a good job they were doing. I also put photos on Highworth Community Facebook page last night which has received 200 likes so far and plenty of comments thanking the Co-op and saying what a great job they were doing."
Wolverhampton - "Overall great engagement and all colleagues enjoyed it. Particularly when residents were stopping to say "thank you".
Wyre Forest - "Had a great morning in Cleobury Mortimer litter picking with the team, fantastic teamwork and much laughter."
We are really looking forward to the next event – taking place in November – so keep a lookout for more information on this and how you can be involved.
Not sure which Regional Community (RC) you fall under?
Click here to find out which RC is closest to you. For sites in the Regional Communities – a full briefing will be issued shortly for colleagues.
For Keeping it Local sites please click here for opportunities to get involved in local litter picks.
Use your Colleague Volunteering Hours (or log them if you take part in volunteering!)
The great news is that you as a colleague can use the time given to support one of our litter picks as volunteer hours. Click here to view the society guidance on safe volunteering for this type of activity.
Volunteering hours must be agreed in advance with your line manager, fall in line with the business needs and be recorded. For more information on recording your volunteering hours please visit the Colleagues Connect by clicking here.