Ashington Community Unites for Successful Great British Spring Clean
Residents and organisations across Ashington have come together over last week to participate in this year's Great British Spring Clean campaign, organised by Keep Britain Tidy.
Volunteers, supported by Ashington Town Council, fanned out across neighbourhoods to collect litter and tidy up public spaces.
On Tuesday morning, a dedicated group including George Dobson, Sam Willcox, Joanne Stobbart, Alexandra Morgan-Ross, Gillian Steel, John Ramshaw and Tommy Johnson focused their efforts on the Hirst area from Castle Terrace down toward Third Avenue. Their hard work yielded 22 bags of litter, plus various fly-tipped items relocated for collection by Northumberland County Council from the Heart of the Hirst building.
Students from Castle School also did their part, with pupils dispersing to tidy up different areas of the school grounds as part of the nationwide campaign. Ashington Town Council provided essential equipment like litter pickers, bin bags, and hi-vis jackets to support the students' endeavours.
Wednesday saw another team made up of George Dobson, Joanne Stobbart, Gillian Steel, Lesley Marie Tanney, Heather Slowey, Kathleen Moore and John Ramshaw clearing litter around People's Park and surrounding streets from Station Road to Green Lane and Park Road across to Dene View. Again a total of 22 bags were collected.
North Seaton Colliery and the Wansbeck riverside area was covered on Thursday by Pete and his team of volunteers from Northumberland Rivers Trust and Ashington Community Litter Project including George Dobson, Joanne Stobbart, Joan Crawford Jessica Harris-Pugh and John Pugh supported by Town Council staff. The areas covered included Boiler Road, Castle Island Way, Colliery Rows and riverside paths. Another 27 bags were collected. We would like to thank the volunteers from the North Seaton Colliery Community Centre who provided refreshments to the volunteers after the litter pick.
The week of clean-up efforts culminated at Paddock Wood, on Easter Saturday, with volunteers including Joanne Stobbart, Michelle Charlton, Scott Wilson, George Dobson, Linda Young and her granddaughter Eliza and Scott Wilson. The volunteers were supported by Councillors Caroline Ball and Jim Lang. As well as Paddock Wood nearby streets including Thorntree Gardens, Manley View, Southern Close and Summerhouse Lane were tidied. An impressive 28 bags were gathered, along with two 50" televisions, one bicycle wheel and various other fly-tipped items.
"The great turnout and collective action for this year's Great British Spring Clean has been inspirational," remarked an Ashington Town Council spokesperson. "We're immensely grateful to every volunteer who took time to tidy up our local spaces. This community spirit is what makes Ashington such a tremendous place."
Ashington Town Council would like to thank Northumberland County Council's Neighbourhood Services Team for picking up over 100 bags of rubbish.
