JUNIOR Village Volunteers worked alongside their adult counterparts on Sunday helping to reclaim Holmes Chapel’s pavements from litter and weeds.
The junior group was launched by Alison Wright, Co-op Member Pioneer for Holmes Chapel and Congleton, who was inspired by three-year-old Dexter.
Alison said: “Dexter is passionate about collecting litter, and it was through a post on Facebook from his mum Em that I saw the potential for encouraging young people to care for and respect their local environment.
“Lisa Collas from Ansa came and presented Dexter with a certificate, a litter picking set and an Ansa bag of activities when she heard he had reported an area of litter but was unable to pick it up himself as he didn't have the right equipment.
“So D's Raptor Gang was born. Ansa donated our raptor head litter pickers, bags, hoops and hi vis vests, members of the community donated small gardening tools like trowels and forks, and I donated lots of dustpan and brushes to help with the big clean-up.
“We had 25 keen Raptor Gang members join on Sunday, aged from six months to people as old as me.
“We worked alongside the usual Village Volunteers litter picking and starting on a project to reclaim our pavements, hence the dustpan and brushes.
“Many of our pavements have shrunk over years of neglect, there's much dead foliage and plenty of weeds.
“This restricts the amount of pavement that can actually be used, when you are trying to keep two metres apart this can be really difficult, and some areas are impossible to navigate with a pushchair, pram or scooter.”
Alison will be encouraging residents to let her know where there are more areas which need attention so the group can target a different area each month.
She added: “I am hoping we can also learn more about how to look after the plants in our community planters and borders, and with funding I plan to purchase a set of children's gardening tools and equipment.
“We will be meeting on Saturday, October 10 outside the Hermitage School at 10am.
“There will be free teas, coffees, juices and cakes for all participants. All equipment is provided but if you have small gardening tools and gardening gloves, please bring them along.”
The Village Volunteers are part of Holmes Chapel Parish Council.
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