Neil Thomas catches up with a group of volunteers who are making a visible difference to their town.
Bridgnorth is one of the Midlands’ most attractive towns – and a group of dedicated volunteers is determined to keep it that way.
Discarded drink cans, fast food packaging, crisp and sweet wrappers, empty bottles, cigarette butts, weeds in paving cracks and unswept streets, can quickly make a place look shabby and unloved. As for the stomach-turning spectacle of dog poo on pavements…
While there are plenty of people civic-minded enough to find a bin, take their rubbish home or clear up after their canine companions, sadly there are some who aren’t.
Which is where Bridgnorth Litter Pickers come in. This is a group of community-spirited volunteers who regularly put on their high-viz green tops, grab their brooms, litter-pickers and refuse bags – and go out to clean the streets. You will see them regularly around the town, picking up debris and sweeping and weeding the roads and walkways.
If this charming, historic town is kept neat and tidy, it is largely down to them. If Bridgnorth remains pleasant to live in – and continues to appeal to tourists in their droves – you know who to thank!
The group started informally at around the time of the Covid lockdown of 2020 when it proved a good way to get out for fresh air and socialising amid tough restrictions that saw many isolated in their own homes for long periods. It was formalised in February 2021 with the setting up of a WhatsApp group by local councillors Julia Buckley and Liz Rochelle to organise activities.
One of the group’s driving forces Huw Rees recalls: “It was good for physical and mental health to get out and do something good for the community at a time when Covid restrictions meant you were only allowed to leave your home for a short period each day. It was very therapeutic.”
Over the past six years, the group has grown to some 50 members. “Around 20 of those are very active and are out and about regularly, but everyone contributes in some way,” Huw explains.
“We all do what we can, when we can. If someone spots a build-up of litter, they tend to deal with it straight away because we don’t want it getting worse or blowing into the river.
“We tend to work in twos and threes because obviously we’re out in traffic cleaning the roads and gutters. We look after one another.
“If there is a particular problem area, 20 of us or so, armed with brooms, litter pickers and refuse bags will deal with it. Sometimes we form working parties for specific projects.”
The group covers the whole town and more. “We do go beyond the town to the surrounding villages. People who live there take care of the rural lanes and other areas,” Huw says.
It is not difficult to imagine how Bridgnorth might look without this essential service.
“There aren’t enough rubbish bins in the town centre and they are not emptied regularly enough to cope with the amount of waste people want to put in them. They overspill leading to rubbish on the pavement and road next to them,” Huw says. “This is clearly an environmental health issue.
“We have got four bins missing from High Street alone – bins that used to be there and were removed and not replaced. I’ve counted six bins from one end of High Street to the other. It’s not enough.”
The decreasing number of bins has coincided with the rising popularity of lunchtime meal deals from supermarkets and fast-food outlets.
“Whereas it used to be fish and chip and kebab wrappings, over the past four years we’ve noticed a big increase in the plastic packaging, plastic bottles, drinks cartons, and paper bags associated with meal deals,” Huw says.
Two areas of improvement in recent years are in dog poo – responsible owners pick up after their pets, unheard of years ago – and in discarded cigarette butts as more and more people have either given up smoking or to turned to vapes.
“There is now something of a stigma attached to watching your dog foul a pavement or playing area then just walking away,” Huw explains.
“There has certainly been a welcome fall in the number of cigarette ends we have to clear up, though one unforeseen downside is the number of people just dropping their vapes packaging in the street.
“Talking of smokers, some ask why bins can’t be fitted with ashtrays on top which would certainly help the environment and seems a sensible idea.”
What is clear is that Bridgnorth Litter Pickers are supplementing services traditionally provided by the local authority.
“As council budgets have become more stretched, it has become increasingly difficult to provide the levels of street cleaning that people took for granted in the past.”
The abolition of the county’s district councils in 2009 heaped the pressure for maintaining services onto the new unitary authority, Shropshire Council which in many ways has found itself overwhelmed by the demands on its budget for vital areas like social care.
“Until your family has needed social care, you don’t realise just how essential it is,” Huw says. “It is unsurprising, perhaps, that in comparison street cleaning seems a lower priority, though in terms of public health it really isn’t.”
The council, clearly appreciative of the group’s work, provides the volunteers with green bin bags. Free dog poo bags, funded by the group, are dotted around the town.
“Our overheads aren’t huge – basically the cost of brooms, litter pickers and high viz tops. We do get donations once in a while which help towards our costs and are greatly appreciated,” Huw says.
The biggest help would be, though, if people took their litter home.
“I can’t understand the mindset of people who just drop their rubbish in the street, sometimes when there’s a bin within yards! We can’t blame a lack of education – civic mindedness and looking after the environment, is taught in schools. Organisations like Keep Britain Tidy reinforce the message. And yet there are still people who don’t seem to care.”
People who patently do care are members of a separate voluntary organisation, Bridgnorth Community Garden Group, whose efforts Huw was particularly keen to acknowledge. “They maintain every public flower bed in the town and make a huge contribution to our town’s attractiveness.”
Huw is one of younger members of the litter picking group, reflecting a wide age range.
“New members are always very welcome,” he says. “It is very worthwhile. You can see something tangible for your efforts. An untidy street looks clean when you’ve finished. You are making a contribution, a difference, and it’s a rewarding feeling.”
Mary Gilbert certainly concurs with such a sentiment. She was also in at the beginning of the group, inspired to join by her experiences as a member of the congregation of St John’s Catholic Church in Bridgnorth.
“Around 10 years ago there was a church initiative Live Simply, called for by Pope Francis, central to which was care for the environment,” she explains. “I got involved in the Sustainable Bridgnorth group and the Pointless Plastic project. As part of it I started litter picking in the cemetery. And once you start picking up litter, you can’t stop!
“You realise the importance it makes not only visually but to the town’s viability as a tourist destination and therefore its prosperity. You are preventing litter finding its way down drains, into the river and eventually the sea and so care for the environment is at its core.”
Mary adds: “Clearing away litter and sweeping the streets is quite hard work and not particularly pleasant. But it’s not a thankless task. In fact, people often stop to thank us and we won a mayor’s community service award which was very rewarding. You feel you are making a contribution to the community, a real difference. You feel valued.”
Interested in becoming a Bridgnorth Litter Picker? Why not get in touch on the group’s Facebook page.
