It's the Wombles of Walsall! Litter picking pupils clean up Darlaston
Children of a primary school became Wombles for the day – picking up 12 bin liners full of litter in just 40 minutes.
Children from St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Darlaston were shocked at the mess around their school, virtually all of it dropped by adults.
The most commonly collected items were discarded beer and lager cans, alcohol bottles, disposable vapes and cigarette butts.
A group of around 60 pupils from years five and six took part in the exercise along with staff and parent volunteers.
Walsall Council provided all the resources that were needed to carry out the litter pick – litter pickers, bags and protective gloves.
Its staff will also be collecting the litter that the children collected.
Acting headteacher Nicky Hannett said the exercise showed the children the impact litter could have on a neighbourhood and they were shocked and surprised at the amount of mess they came across.
She said: “The children collected a shocking amount of litter from the pavements close to the school – there were 12 bin liners full plus other items that had also been fly tipped.
“The children really enjoyed it and are keen to arrange our next litter pick but, speaking to them afterwards, they really wish there was no need and that people would take their litter home with them and put it in a bin.
“Our children want to live in a cleaner Darlaston and are ready to tell those they meet about what they found and how it made them feel.
"They are determined to be citizens who care for the environment and who influence others to do the same.”
Rubbish dumped on the streets of the Black Country isn’t just an eyesore, it also costs taxpayers a small fortune.
Walsall Council, which covers the Darlaston area, revealed earlier this year that it spent around £880,000 a year picking up fly-tipping and rubbish from streets across the borough.
The council has a team of 963 registered adult litter-picking volunteers and between July 2022 and June this year, they removed approximately 20,905 bags of rubbish.
The problem was described by Independent Blakenall ward councillor Pete Smith as being at “epidemic proportions”.
He said it would be much worse were it not for volunteering litter pickers giving up their time.