A group is on a mission to clean up the streets after launching the Liverpool Litter Picking Crew.
Its first event on Sunday was made possible courtesy of a grant from the Liverpool Chapter of The Awesome Foundation, an organisation that gives £500 to kick-start a project each month that makes a difference to the local community.
The litter pick, which produced 13 full bags of rubbish, was held in the Baltic Triangle, where 17-year-old Annabelle Robinson, who applied for the grant, goes to The Studio School.
She said: “The litter has always bothered me on the way to and from school. I decided to apply for a grant to make a difference and clean up the area.”
YouTube: Maisie Harvey
The grant allowed Annabelle to purchase all the equipment required to make a litter pick possible, such as gloves, high-visibility vests, and grabbers.
Volunteer Lindsey Whitley, 49, came all the way from the Wirral to pick litter along with her 14-year-old son, Stephen.
She said: “I’m litter picking because I’m just hating seeing a world where everyone thinks it’s OK to just throw their litter down. Our world is just getting full of plastic and rubbish, and I just want to make it better. Everyone has got to do their little bit.”
Chris Houseman, from Sefton, decided to join in after seeing the event online. He said: “I saw the activity on Facebook. I’m already part of an organisation called GoodGym, which is a running club and also a volunteer organisation, and it’s the sort of thing that I go to quite a lot of.”
The 41-year-old added: “I thought I’d get involved and help out what looks like a small start-up struggling to get numbers and help them out a bit.”
The litter picks will be held monthly in the Baltic Triangle, and the next one will be held at 1pm on December 8th.