‘Say rubbish to rubbish’ - local man unites city by cleaning up Nottingham’s streets

We’re all guilty of it – moaning about things but not doing anything about it. Not Tim Burrow though, a young man from Forest Fields, Nottingham.

Tim has decided to clean up the streets of Nottingham and through pure determination has galvanised the city into action – bringing together local residents, community groups and services such as Nottingham City Council’s StreetScene teams, to help reduce the amount of rubbish in Nottingham.

Tim’s ‘Say Rubbish to Rubbish’ event takes place on Saturday 28th March 2009 from 12pm – 5pm, and will see local people across Nottingham joining forces to clean up their neighbourhoods, via ‘litter picks’ organised by community groups in several areas of the city including Lenton, Radford, Hyson Green, Forest Fields, New Basford, St Anns and Sneinton.

The event also coincides with Nottingham City Council’s StreetScene Big Spring Clean 2009 event, and Tim has persuaded the Council to support his ‘Say Rubbish to Rubbish’ event by providing litter picking equipment and removing rubbish collected by local people on the day.

Tim explains:

“I took part in a similar project in Lenton last year, organised by the Crocus Café. The day was a great success so I wanted to expand on it and help to improve neighbourhoods throughout Nottingham.

In addition, to improving neighbourhoods and making the city a cleaner place to live, I’m confident that the event will help to bring local people together, working together to achieve a common goal. After all, no one likes to see rubbish on the streets and it’s something we all complain about – so I decided to do something about it!”

Tim wrote to community groups around Nottingham for help with running ‘Say Rubbish to Rubbish’ litter picks in different neighbourhoods. As a result, the event is being supported by the Sumac Centre (Forest Fields & New Basford), The Crocus Café (Lenton), the Partnership Council (Radford & Hyson Green), Café Sneinton (Sneinton) and the Renewal Trust (St Anns). Each community group is hosting a litter pick in their area, so that volunteers can go along and collect litter picking equipment for example.

The Partnership Council is supporting Tim’s ‘Say Rubbish to Rubbish’ event through its environmental project for young people, Sprout.

Rachel Wicks from Sprout says:

“There’s a great deal of passion for the environment amongst young people in Nottingham as Tim’s determination and commitment shows. It’s brilliant that Tim has been able to organise this event as an individual and hopefully his example will be an inspiration to other young people in the city.”

Tim is also hoping that ‘Say Rubbish to Rubbish’ will help to remind local people that they can make a difference and get involved in looking after their neighbourhoods.

He explains:

“Hopefully people who routinely drop litter in their neighbourhood will see neighbours and friends picking it up during the event and it’ll make them think twice about dropping rubbish on the street in the future.

Because the event is neighbourhood-based, rather than being run by a citywide organisation, I’m hoping the message it portrays will be very personal to people – it is literally about people helping out on their own doorsteps.”

To get involved simply go along to your nearest ‘Say Rubbish to Rubbish’ venue between 12pm – 5pm on Saturday 28th March 2009:

Forest Fields & New Basford – The Sumac Centre, 245 Gladstone Street, Forest Fields, NG7 6HX.

Lenton – The Crocus Café, Church Square, Lenton, NG7 1SL.

Radford & Hyson Green – Partnership Council, 47 Gregory Boulevard, Hyson Green, NG7 5JA.

Sneinton – Café Sneinton, Sneinton Hermitage Community Centre, Sneinton Boulevard, Sneinton, NG2 4GN. Please note drinks and refreshments will be available from 12pm – 3pm and the litter pick will start at 3pm.

St Anns – Renewal Trust, 27-31 Carlton Road, Sneinton, NG3 2DG.

To find out more about ‘Say Rubbish to Rubbish’ please contact Tim Burrow by emailing  sayrubbishtorubbish@hotmail.com or call Tim on 07824 879359.

The project also has a website and blog where people can post their comments and messages of support for the event: www.sayrubbishtorubbish.wordpress.com