Your Hampton

It is unfortunate, but until our roads get adopted nothing is likely to be done formally about the ever increasing problem of litter!  That is unless we adopt the approach of some of our Peterborough neighbours!

As with many Hampton residents, I feel a growing level of frustration at the state of our streets.  Therefore, on Saturday 6^th February, in an effort to see what could be done, I joined a team of volunteers who cleared litter in Orton Goldhay.  It was pretty much as I expected, turn up, receive some useful equipment, collect litter, go home.

But, and this is what really struck me, it worked on a number of levels:

1. There was a sense of satisfaction gained from doing something for the community;

2. A sense of achievement, as there was tangible evidence of the work done;

3. The opportunity to interact with people I would not ordinarily meet;

4. Being outside and whilst it was cold, it was February, it was better than sitting at a desk and ….

5. It actually started to suppress some of my “grumpy old person tendencies” - and I’m not that old!

So, with the support of Hampton Parish Council, O&H Hampton and Roy Clark, our Neighbourhood Officer for Hampton, the second Saturday of each month has been nominated for Volunteer Litter Picking.  There will be alternate venues, one month Vale one month Hargate.  The details are to the right.

Litter picking initiatives have been undertaken in Hampton before, and I applaud all those who organized and got involved in such events.  But there has never been anything regular or sustained.

So come on Hampton let’s make this work.  Come along and help tidy up our neighbourhood, you may find you get more out of it than a bag of rubbish!!!

Ian

Hampton Vale

Hampton Volunteer Litter Picking Group
Progress Report – March 2011

It is now 12 months since the Hampton Volunteer Litter Picking Group was formed.  The group alternate each month between Hargate and Vale for 60 minutes worth of litter picking activity.  The sessions start at 11.00am on the second Saturday of the month and every resident is welcome.  

The group is aligned to a nationwide initiative called “litter-action” who recently conducted a survey of their various members to understand what is happening as far as organisation and activity is concerned.  The results of this survey provide a good context to give a first year update.

Survey Results/Comments

Of the respondent groups, there were 3 groups with over 100 regular members however these groups unfortunately do skew the figures.  Therefore to establish the average group size they were removed.  This resulted in the average group being made up of 11 people.

Firstly the good news is The Hampton Group is above the average, for Hampton Vale the average group size is 26, whereas the average for Hargate is 28.  In 2010/11 the largest recorded group of volunteers was 50, and sadly the smallest 3.

36% of groups say that they have more members than last year – this is highly encouraging

I have little evidence to suggest our group size is growing, the group numbers do fluctuate dependent on weather and holiday periods.  That said the last pick (March 2011) was attended by eleven volunteers (the national average) in comparison to 50 volunteers in March 2010.

The biggest problems that groups have are getting enough people involved (53%) and recruiting members (48%) 

I have to agree with these statistics, but I don’t necessarily understand them.  Why? Do people not care; are they too busy? Is it somebody else’s responsibility?  Are we happy to live in a rubbish strewn state?  At the moment our reality is simple, the majority of our roads are not adopted, therefore we are not afforded the levels of service that are shown to other parts of the city. 

68% of groups said that they had a good relationship with their local authority

I would concur with this view, our relationship is excellent, the local authorities and O & H help with the provision of equipment and collection of the rubbish we gather.

Another useful statistic is that as of the end of March 2011 the group had collected 413 (four hundred and thirteen) bags of rubbish and other assorted detritus.  Rubbish that would otherwise still be lying around.  So thank you to everyone who has helped – you know who you are!

Moving Forward

In a community this size, there should be no reason why a volunteer group of 100 or more should not exist.  We do have a choice and thereby the ability to help Hampton become a much cleaner environment.  If we don’t act in the short term it’s unlikely anyone else will.  So please help.

Last year I asked for other community groups to get involved and I had a wonderful response with the Parish Council, the Church and the WI all offering vital support.  I will be asking these groups to help again this year, however are there any other groups, societies or businesses who are prepared to help?  If you think you could offer some additional headcount or other resource, please get in touch.
 

In order to stay in touch I’ve set up our own web site at http://www.litteraction.org.uk/hampton-volunteer-litter-pickers and I encourage you all to join as group members

Support this volunteer group and download a poster here   Litter pick poster

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