Following a Wychavon District Council programme, over 10,000 children have joined the battle against litter.

This followed 450 pupils at St Peter's C of E Academy Droitwich participated in specialist workshops as part of the educational scheme, Little Litter Warriors.

Spearheaded by Litter Heroes ambassador Karen Blanchfield, the initiative witnessed children devote three days to cleaning the roads around the St Peter's Church Lane school and Lido Park, filling more than 160 buckets with rubbish, some of which dated back to the 1990s.

 

 

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Ms Blanchfield, the founder of Little Litter Warriors, unveiled the project in March 2021, in partnership with Wychavon's anti-littering campaign.

She 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."

These sessions have proved popular with the council, who extended funding for an additional two years.

Pupils are provided resources to continue learning about the harmful impacts of littering after the workshop.

The scheme encourages children to continue contributing to their communities through initiatives such as Wychavon’s 'Adopt a Street' volunteer litter picking programme.

It was also recently recognised, winning the Gold International Green Apple Environment Award 2023 in the education and training sector.

Ms Blanchfield added: "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.

"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.”

Councillor Emma Stokes, executive board member for resident and customer service on the council, said: "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."