A litter-picking extravaganza has been taking place around Skelton Grange Environment Centre in South Leeds. Volunteers have spent three ‘Big Tidy Up’ days cleaning up the surrounding area and collected an amazing 57 bags of rubbish!
The first day focused on the canalside towpath between Skelton Grange Environment Centre and Thwaite Mills Watermill Museum, cleaning up the popular cycle and walking Transpennine Trail route. Next was an effort to remove rubbish and fly tipping from the grass verges on the main approach road, improving access for pedestrians visiting the centre. Finally, work was carried out to clear the hedgerows and roads surrounding the centre, to leave the area looking spot on for the Centre’s upcoming Open Day on 12th September.
“The Big Tidy Up was extremely beneficial to the local environment, making it cleaner and safer” said volunteer Adele Cross. “A lot of care and hard work put in by a small group of determined people made a huge difference”.
“I enjoyed seeing the difference we made by getting rid of all the rubbish from the paths and grass verges,” added volunteer Julie Brown. “It’s amazing how much rubbish can be collected.”
Skelton Grange Environment Centre is an innovative environmental education project in South Leeds, which is a partnership between BTCV and National Grid with support from Leeds City Council. It offers a range of fun, hands-on environmental education activities for schoolchildren which aim to encourage an interest in the natural world.
BTCV is supporting the Big Tidy Up, the country’s biggest ever litter tidy up, organised by Keep Britain Tidy. See www.bigtidyup.org