More than 10,000 children have now joined the fight against litter thanks to an education programme funded by Wychavon.
Pupils at St Peter’s C of E Academy Droitwich helped the Little Litter Warriors scheme reach the milestone after 450 of them took part in specialist workshops.
Children spent three days picking the streets around the St Peter’s Church Lane school as well as in Lido Park. Pupils filled more than 160 buckets with rubbish plucked from roads, paths and hedges, with the oldest dating back to the 1990s.
Little Litter Warriors was created by Keep Britain Tidy Litter Heroes Ambassador Karen Blanchfield, as a way of raising awareness of the impact of littering and inspiring young people and spread the anti-litter message.
The scheme launched in March 2021 after Wychavon agreed to fund free sessions for all schools as part of its anti-littering campaign. The sessions have proved so popular, Wychavon has now extended the funding for another two years.
As well as taking part in a litter pick, with the extra challenge of seeing who can hunt out the oldest piece of litter, schools are provided with resources to continue educating children about littering after the session. They are also encouraged to join Wychavon’s Adopt a Street volunteer litter picking programme to support pupils to continue to help clean up their community.
The scheme has achieved major recognition after winning a Gold International Green Apple Environment Award 2023 in the education and training sector.
Karen Blanchfield, founder of Little Litter Warriors, said: “I go out daily litter picking the same areas month on month collecting the same amount of littered waste, showing that there is a need for change in our future behaviours.
“The program was set up in order to inspire our children to grow up respecting the environment and becoming the new generation of adults to care. The children are taught through a fun and engaging workshop ensuring they think about the impact of their litter decision. I have returned to many schools where the pupils have told me of their litter picks with their families, how they have adopted their street and even shaped changes within their school. These children inspire me to keep teaching these sessions year on year and having Wychavon council support my educational litter program ensures we can keep achieving these future goals together.”
Cllr Emma Stokes, Executive Board Member for Resident and Customer Service on Wychavon District Council, said: “I’m delighted our anti-litter message has now reached more than 10,000 young minds and by extending the funding for this scheme we plan to reach many more. If your school has not had a session yet then please get in touch with Karen.
“Through Little Litter Warriors we are not only helping to inspire good behaviours in our young people we hope they will take with them into adult life, but we also hope they will take what they learn back to the adults in their lives and have a positive impact on their behaviour as well.”
