Welcome to the March edition of the new CHEQS Magazine! Your community magazine – supported by representatives of the five village communities, Coln St Aldwyns, Hatherop, Quenington, Eastleach and Southrop.
Hello From………… Laura Garner
I’ve lived in Quenington with my family for 5 years now. Some of you may have seen me picking up litter in and around the village since the start of the year. I’m doing this as the ‘community service’ element towards gaining the Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. I also have other elements to do: ‘physical exercise’ and ‘advance in a skill’ as part of the DOE, so I’ve taken up running and am continuing to learn the guitar – I’m now on Grade 6.
I have to do at least an hour a week of community service. The parish council is supporting me by lending me two litter-picker gadgets and hi-viz jackets. A member of my family comes out with me each week, to keep me company. We tend to go out on a weekend morning as it’s no good trying to litter pick in the dark in the evening!
I’ve split the village into sections and have been picking the litter up from a section a week, then I send a weekly report to the clerk of the parish council.
I was quite surprised by how much litter we’ve found. The first week covered The Green, the play park and Snakes Drive. We didn’t find that much litter, except in the bus shelter and at the far end of the playground. However, the next two weeks – when I collected along Fairford Road and up to Donkeywell Farm – was a different story.
The grass verges out of the village seemed to be packed with litter, particularly things that could be thrown out of car windows. We collected five large bin bags of rubbish from these areas. There were only two bags worth from Coneygar Road, down Fowler’s Hill and along Victoria Road. The final section will be around the village and up Rag Hill. Then I’ll start again.
So far, we’ve found 45 kg of litter in total. Included in this weight were: 83 plastic bottles; 14 glass bottles; 66 drinks cans. I’ve been shocked at the absurdity of some of our finds. We found a three-metre-long skirting board and an air pod holder, as well as three different boots! There are also so many car parts we may end up being able to build our own!
I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy this at the start, but actually it’s fun. It’s great being outside, even in the cold, and it’s good to be doing something to help the village. So, the message this month is to take your litter home!
Margaret Stranks – Editor
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