VOLUNTEERS of all ages came together to tackle fly-tipping in areas surrounding a busy Newport retail park.
The Newport East Litter Pickers, in partnership with community group Lliswerry Ward Matters, organised the event to clear discarded rubbish surrounding Newport (Spytty) Retail Park, where there was a lot of rubbish in the reens and around the footbridge.
“Our community of volunteers is growing, and our events are increasingly well attended”, said Newport East Litter Pickers founder Benjamin Antoniou.
“We had over 30 volunteers, including Newport East MP Jessica Morden, who has been very supportive of our work. We were also joined by Lliswerry ward councillors Allan Morris and Roger Jeavons.
The volunteers after Saturday's litter pick
“It was great to have our elected members join us on the day, and they all got stuck in.”
The group cleared around 50 bags of rubbish in only one hour, much of which was bagged up for recycling. They also found trolleys, a scooter and a buggy.
The amount of bags collected
The amount of rubbish dumped in the area
“Newport City Homes have helped out at several of our events now, sending some of their operatives to help with our clean-ups, and they also very kindly removed all the waste afterwards,” said Mr Antoniou.
“Their support has made a really big difference to our work”.
Caffè Nero at Newport Retail Park sponsored the event and gave all the volunteers free drinks afterwards.
If you want to back the Argus' War on Litter, join our Facebook group here.
“This social aspect of our events gives everyone a chance to get to know each other a bit better,” said Mr Antoniou.
“It is a great opportunity to see a range of age groups, from children to retired people, doing something positive for our community.
“I think people feel really good about doing their bit to make Newport a cleaner, greener place to live and work”.
If you want to find out more about Newport East Litter Pickers, get in touch by emailing cleangreennewport@gmail.com
Also, ask to join their WhatsApp group, to keep up to date with future events.
Read our round up of all the work done by eco-warriors from across Gwent. Click here.
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