May and Sheila net piles of litter in canal clear-up
Staff and residents at a care home in Wolverhampton have taken part in a litter-pick as part of the Captain Sir Tom Moore challenge.
The challenge was issued by Sir Tom's family to commemorate what would have been his 101st birthday.
Activity co-ordinators Michelle Jones and Kerrie Kenton, who work at the Methodist Home Association's Waterside House residential dementia care home, decided to carry out a major litter-pick around the towpath of the Wednesfield Canal after being shocked by the amount of discarded rubbish in the area.
Joining Michelle on the litter-pick was fellow activity co-ordinator Kerrie Kenton, aged 49, from Wolverhampton, home chaplain Dawn Ellis, aged 53, from Bilston, and home domestic Natasha Bhart, aged 34, from Wednesfield.
Michelle, aged 39, from Wednesfield, said: "Weather-permitting we hoped to take 95-year-old May Barnett and 84-year-old Sheila Powers on the litter-pick.
"We hoped to each collect 100 pieces of litter to help clear as much rubbish as possible.
"I decided it would be a good idea to do a litter-pick after visiting the area for a walk with the residents.
"It was sad to see such a lot of litter surrounding the area and particularly around the nests of birds.
"Some of the residents were very distressed by what they saw and I suggested it would be something we could do together as part of the Sir Captain Tom Moore 100 Challenge.
"The challenge is for people to carry out something 100 times in his memory and we felt this was the ideal activity.
"The residents know of Sir Tom because they often saw him on television and he was an inspiration to many people."
By Sue Smith
