Pye Bank teams clean up

Story & photos: Lisa Swift

The streets around Pye Bank School were spotless on Saturday 12th July, after a two-hour litter-pick by pupils, parents and staff.

The five teams gathered around 75 bags of rubbish from the Verdon Street and Andover Street area. It was a hot day and some parents were fasting for Ramadan but this did not stop everyone working hard. Karen Stanley, Business Support Manager at Pye Bank, led the organising of the event. She said,

“We want people to see us doing this and see that it's worth it, to see how nice it is to have a clean environment. We hope people will help keep it clean.”

Joanne Grayson, one of the parents on the litter-pick, said,

“A group of mums has just finished the family learning course, Eco Monsters, where we learned what a terrible impact litter has on the environment. We are now starting a social enterprise to raise awareness. We are asking people to bring aluminium cans into school: these can be sold and, with the money, we hope to install two new bins outside school.”