Tidy Our Town: ‘We want people to have an excuse to get out and about in spring and give back to nature’

The Nene Rivers Trust CIO is playing its part in the national Big Spring Clean initiative, which was kickstarted with a litter pick alongside the Northants Litter Wombles on March 17.

With one clean up event already hosted at Riverside Retail Park this month, three more are planned before the end of April as an extension of the national campaign.

Molly Simpson, project support officer at the Nene Rivers Trust, spoke to the Chronicle & Echo as part of the ongoing Tidy Our Town campaign.

She shared that the charity operates projects that vary from restoring rivers and land, to engaging with a number of community groups.

“The three main points in all the work we do is conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment,” said Molly. “We work along all of the Nene Valley and across Northamptonshire.”

These litter picks have come at the ideal time after the Trust’s ‘state of the rivers’ report was returned this month, which highlighted the worrying amount of litter and microplastic in rivers.

For Molly and the team, it is important to engage with the community and connect the different groups they work with – to push the important message about the harm litter causes.

“We want people to have an excuse to get out and about in spring and give back to nature, not just take from it,” she added.

15 people attended the first litter pick at Riverside Retail Park in recent weeks, hosted in collaboration with the Northants Litter Wombles.

The next is an all-day event at Stanwick Lakes on April 4 and is already fully booked with 40 people lined up to attend – many of which are families.

The following one will be along Wellingborough Embankment on April 27 with the Welly Wombles.

The final event is on April 28, when seven organisations will come together to litter pick the land surrounding the River Nene at Northampton Active. There will be pickers both on land and in boats clearing the water.

Molly said: “We hope these events encourage others to get out and do some litter picking, get in the habit of combining a walk with picking litter, or perhaps join their local Womble team.

“We can also demonstrate how easy it is to book litter picking kits with the local council who encourage such activities.

“It is something we can all do. I was inspired to join the Wombles from the last pick. You can do it at any time and don’t have to wait to join a group.”

Molly described the Northants Litter Wombles as “incredible” and said she admires the fact they give up their time for the benefit of the county.

She sees purple bags everywhere and believes that, although the Wombles have a large following, many people do not know about the purple bags and the effort that goes into filling them.

If you would like to get involved in the Tidy Our Town campaign, established by the Chronicle & Echo with the support of the Northants Litter Wombles, email [email protected].