What a wonderful success! The Community Council, working with the co-operation of Veolia, Westminster Council and the Friends of Queen’s Park Gardens, organised a massive day of action in our beautiful neighbourhood.
For the volunteers, the day began in the Wildlife Area of Queen’s Park Gardens, where we had a quick health & safety talk, then tooled up with special t-shirts, green bags and hoops, pooper scoopers, litter pickers, gloves, and for some executive volunteers, stencils and a can or two of spray chalk.
We divided into groups to make a sweep of each street. One team did the long roads like Portnall and Bravington; another group combed the avenues running from Harrow Road and the little adjoining streets. We had people concentrating on Kilravock to Peach and finally a party was despatched to look after the park itself. We also had our dog expert, Crissie Chambers on the streets, giving advice to dog owners.
Mainly focussing our efforts on the road and pavement, we quickly filled our green bags, but if we saw a front garden that was looking a bit cluttered, we tapped on the front door asking for permission to clear the debris that had been left by passers-by. Some people had larger items and we asked if they’d like us to arrange a one-off collection for them today*.
Sadly, we also came across obstacles like these.
Huge items like this fridge freezer and a door had been left in the street. This is such a hazard for children and our many elderly neighbours and of course, it is illegal. This kind of fly-tipping is a big problem on the estate. If you do notice anything please call the council’s environment action line (020 7641 2000) or here.
We also found a lot of dog ends and dog mess, both of which are unnecessary if dealt with responsibly by caring members of the community. It is a shame that a few thoughtless people spoil our lovely streets for everyone else.
We were such a strong team of workers that we we had time to break for some lunch in St Jude’s Hall on Ilbert Street. Emma Morgan made a dash to Sainsbury, grabbing sandwiches and drinks for us all so that we could sit and rest for a while.
In the afternoon, we concentrated our efforts in The Mozart Estate, ending up on Dart Street with the Westminster Recycling Champions team, who had supported us so well today, and to return all of our tools to the lovely men from Veolia.
You can read more about the day and its intentions here. It was such a success that we we hope to hold another one in the coming months, unless all our neighbours and visitors get into the habit of cleaning up for themselves!
We met some wonderful people and had the chance to chat to new neighbours, thrilled to see us working to make our community a cleaner place. All this was in the glorious sunshine. Thank you to everyone who joined in, younger and older too.
Did you see us and talk to us? Would you like to join in the next time we do this? Contact the Community Council with your details and they’ll keep you informed via the mailing list.
There are more than 40 photos in our gallery. Thank you to Ray Lancashire for taking most of these.
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