North East schools get stuck in to the Great British Spring Clean
Well done to schools in the North East for getting involved in the Great British Spring Clean. Schools from West End Schools’ Trust (WEST) took to the streets to take pride in their community.
The Great British Spring Clean
From 17 March until 2 April, schools, families, community groups and businesses got involved with the Great British Spring Clean campaign which aimed to help spruce up the local area. In the 2022 campaign, 136 volunteers collected more than 350 bags of rubbish in Newcastle alone.
The 2023 campaign is the 8th year of the initiative, this year the theme was #PrideinPlace. The campaign’s ‘litter heroes’ pledged to pick more than 400,000 bags of litter.
Wingrove Primary
The School Council at Wingrove Primary School decided to tackle the amount of litter in the community after several pupils and parents raised the issue. Prior to the Spring Clean campaign, Wingrove was already actively looking after their environment. Since January, the School Council has carried out weekly litter picks along neighbouring streets, each time collecting several bags of rubbish that weighed in excess of 10kgs.
To coincide with Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean initiative, the School Council, with other schools in the WEST arranged for a week of action to tackle the problem.
Wingrove started their week with an assembly by Rebecca Wilson, Waste and Recycling Engagement Team Leader at Newcastle Council. Each class then carried out a litter pick of the local streets. Pupils cleared so much litter from the local streets that a tipper truck had to be sent to collect it!
A student named Safiyyah commented:
“I felt really proud of myself working with my class to help clean up the school environment.”
Chris Zarraga, Director of Schools North East commented:
“Well done to WEST for involving their schools in the Great British Spring Clean. Our region’s schools always step up and go above and beyond to look after their communities. We are proud to see schools such as Wingrove Primary taking pride in their environment and promoting these values in their students.”
Wingrove Primary School is a Schools North East Partner School. If you’d like to find out more about our Partner School Programme click here.
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