by Gail Hovey
In support of Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean, Eco Warriors from St Gregory’s Catholic Science College in Kenton invited other local schools, businesses and residents to join them in a community litter pick in Woodcock Park on 22nd March, the launch day of Keep Britain Tidy’s national clean up campaign.
Over 90 people turned out to support the park clean up, with 46 bags of rubbish collected in just under one hour. St Gregory’s litter busters were joined by pupils from Uxendon Manor and Mount Stewart Primary Schools as well as youngsters from BrightStart Nursery School. Local organisations also got stuck in with staff from Blue Ginger Restaurant, LJ Butler Funerals and St Luke’s Hospice all taking part, as well as Councillor Reg Colwill and representatives from the Rotary Club of Northwick Park, the Friends of Woodcock Park and Kenton United Synagogue.
Litter picking tools, refuse and recycling bags were provided by Veolia. In addition, Brent Council located a Community Skip outside St Gregory’s school for the morning, enabling residents to dispose of large or bulky items.
St Gregory’s Headteacher Andrew Prindiville said: ‘I’m incredibly proud of our fantastic Eco Committee pupils for organising such a successful community clean up. They are passionate about improving our environment and making a better world for the future.’
Thisbe Mendes, a pupil at the school, said, ‘By 2050 there could be more plastic in the sea than fish. We all need to do our part to reduce our use of plastic and to educate people not to drop litter.’
Uxendon Manor Primary school teacher, Serena Addari added: ‘All of the children had such an amazing time and were so shocked by the amount of litter collected!’
St Gregory’s pupils carried on their clean up throughout the day with Year 7 pupils collecting items for recycling in the school playground at lunch time and Sixth Form pupils litter picking in the afternoon.
