BKV’s Litter Patrol
On Monday 8th February, Wombourne’s Best Kept Village team launched an exciting new initiative. The ‘Litter Patrol’ was devised as a means of encouraging children aged 3-14 to stay active and get walking, taking pride in their community and leading the way in the fight against litter.
The scheme comes at a time when children have been suffering especially due to Covid-19, being isolated from friends and family, and losing that regular interaction at school, with all the complications that has at home.
It is therefore unsurprising that the launch of this new initiative became a runaway success over night. Within that first week, 65 of our youngest residents signed up and were presented with their very own litter pickers and hi-vis jackets. They really look the part! This has been an utterly amazing response, and is due to the dedication of the BKV team who are not just keen to do their bit, but also to help educate and empower the next generation.
Chairman of the Parish Council, Cllr Dan Kinsey – himself a BKV volunteer – said, ‘This is absolutely inspirational. BKV has a strong relationship with the Council, and we wholeheartedly support their amazing work to help keep our village looking its best. To see the excitement on the children’s faces is absolutely wonderful, and we are all very proud of them.’
This initiative is not merely about our youngsters doing their bit though. The scheme comes with a set of ‘golden rules’ to ensure our young volunteers stay safe, and also comes with a log-book to record their activity and certificates are awarded to those who accomplish particular milestones of 5, 10, 20, 30 and even 50 picks. You might think 50 is a very ambitious target, but some of our ‘Litter Patrol’ superstars are already well on their way!
This is also so much wider than BKV itself, with local businesses joining in to support our Litter Patrol. Our very own ‘GM Home Discounts’ very kindly donated 60 litter pickers to help start the scheme, and the Estate Agents ‘Berriman Eaton’ offered to help print log-books and certificates for the children taking part. Another local business is currently sourcing further hi-vis jackets to donate too. It really is an amazing community effort.
Alison, Donna and Simon are the BKV co-ordinators for the scheme, and we send a big thank you to them and the wider team for all their hard work.
Speaking of the impact their young Litter Patrol volunteers are having, Alison said, ‘We are honoured to have them all in our team and we truly believe Wombourne’s future is in very safe hands.’
Please take the time to visit the BKV Facebook page for regular updates on Litter Patrol and everything BKV: https://www.facebook.com/wombourneBKV/
