Derbyshire woman leads regular litter picks keeping country park clean

Since January this year, Gabby Shields from Wingerworth has been leading voluntary groups of litter pickers around the Avenue Country park to keep the area rubbish free.

Taking place on one Sunday of every month, Gabby is joined by other volunteers on a leisurely walk around different sections of the park, on the look-out for any litter left discarded. The number of volunteers who attend these meet-ups can vary between two to ten people.

Gabby assures that there is not a major problem with litter in the country park and that, generally, the people who use the park are responsible and clean up after themselves. The main types of litter that the volunteers do come across either come from dog walkers who do not clean up after their animals and bits of waste that blows over from the open skips of a nearby building site.

Gabby said: “If you litter pick along a road or something like that you’ll get a lot of litter, but the nature of the country park means you’ve really got to go and look for the litter because it’s usually either in the long grass or has been blown around by the wind. You don’t get volumes and volumes but it all matters because the country park is a place for wildlife and we want to keep it nice and looking that way.”

According to this hardworking, wildlife trust volunteer, everyone who puts themselves forward to help out with the monthly litter picks always say they have a really good time.

She said: “The country park is a nice place to walk, and while you're litter picking you get a nice walk out of it as well. We look at the wildlife that’s around – there’s a good selection of bird-life to spot. So yeah, there’s a nice walk, a sense of community and achievement. You feel you’ve done your bit and made the place a bit nicer for everybody else to use.”

Weather permitting, the next Community litter pick at the Avenue country park is scheduled for Sunday, July 30, meeting in the car park at 10.00am. Anybody is welcome to attend.