During the summer, the Young Commissioners delivered a successful and fun “litter-picking adventure around Sutton” which resulted in around 9 bags of rubbish being collected!
This litter picking walk took place on a sunny Sunday afternoon and the team was comprised of Young Commissioners, other young people, parents and Volunteer Centre Sutton staff. Everyone banded together to clean up streets and parks on the 1.5 mile route in and around Sutton town centre.
This event didn’t just happen by itself though, as there was a significant amount of preparation. The Young Commissioners were involved in almost every aspect of this, from route planning and risk assessment, to publicity and poster design (to enable other young people to join in too).
Local interest groups were contacted and liaised with, to ensure that we were working in partnership with the community. These included a Church Rector, Successful Sutton (a non-profit organisation working to make Sutton town centre a better place), residents involved in Lenham Road Community Garden and Manor Park Friends Group.
Litter picking equipment was sourced from the council and rubbish bags were later collected by them. Overall it was a great success, with the participants both enjoying the challenge – to collect as much rubbish as possible – and getting a sizeable amount. It was great to see the positive reception from members of the public on the route round.
Volunteer Centre Sutton and the Young Commissioners were very pleased with the outcomes and felt that all the effort was worthwhile. They hope to carry out more litter picks in the future.
“Thank you for inviting me and my children, Maya and Logan to take part in the litter pick. We couldn't believe how much litter there was! Logan particularly liked finding treasure...a total of 25p in change(!) and they both enjoyed meeting other kids.’’ Kelly - parent who attended with her two children.
If you would like more information about the Young Commissioners and our youth engagement work, please contact our project lead Jenny: jennybatt@vcsutton.org.uk
