Litter Picking Event Unites Community

Published by Nadia Khan for Brent Housing Partnership in Housing and also in Environment

Brent Housing Partnership (BHP) organised a massive litter picking event today in Peel Precinct, South Kilburn which united the community and brought people together.

The event was part of Keep Britain Tidy’s “Love Where You Live” campaign which aims to inspire people to think about their communities and take action to reduce litter in the locations where they live, the places they visit and the spaces that they use.

The campaign is about making people aware of how they dispose of litter, bringing communities together and promoting the message about everyone taking responsibility – individuals, local authorities, government and multi-national companies to change the way people think and act about littering. It is all about everyone working together to make changes happen. Another key message is to address how much it costs to clear litter and how much could be recycled.

The litter picking event, which took place this morning at Peel Precinct, was very successful and well attended. Representatives from Keep Britain Tidy, cleaning contractors (Wettons), local residents, BHP Officers, local ward councillors, the safer neighbourhood team and local school children participated to show their support of the project and their local community.

Gerry Doherty, Chief Executive of BHP said: “We are very excited to be involved with this worthwhile campaign. We are hopeful that this litter picking event will make an impact in the way people dispose of litter and encourage them to take more responsibility for their communities”.  

Phil Barton, Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, said: “We are delighted that Brent Housing Partnership is supporting Love Where You Live. Our ambitious campaign can only work with the support of everyone in the community – individuals, businesses, schools and voluntary organisations. With the help of innovative organisations like Brent Housing Partnership, Love Where You Live will make a real difference to the places where people live, work and play.”

One of the school children, Cody Garcia aged 9, said: “People shouldn’t throw rubbish like this; it is like they don’t care. They need to throw their rubbish in the bin”.

The general consensus among the young children who took part was that the amount of litter they came across was “disgusting and horrible”, “people are being naughty and should know how to clean up”, and that “everyone should look after where they live”.

Liz Leicester, a South Kilburn resident, said: “This event has been very good and has made people think about their actions. We are all united in wanting to live in a nice, clean place and today proved that”.

Ann Hawthorn, another South Kilburn resident, said: “I am amazed at the amount of people who have turned up today. The amount of rubbish has been a real eye opener. It was amazing to see how it built up so quickly. This event has definitely generated awareness amongst the community”.