CPRE Gloucestershire, the Countryside Charity, has seen a big increase in littering across the county during the last 12 months. A large number of reports have been received of piles of litter left behind in countryside spots and local green spaces. The charity is taking action by recruiting a growing army of volunteers to tackle this problem.

As more people are meeting outdoors and using local green spaces for exercise due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and as lockdown restrictions ease, more and more litter is being left behind.

Not only is this an eyesore but it also poses a risk of serious harm to local wildlife, and the charity have received reports of small animals like this vole climbing into discarded bottles and getting trapped inside.

At the beginning of March 2021 CPRE Gloucestershire launched the North Cotswolds Clean-up campaign, calling on local residents to get involved in cleaning up the area around where they live. The campaign has drawn a lot of support with many residents getting stuck in and cleaning up the lanes, roads and hedgerows around their homes. Some families have also got their children involved in the Clean-up.

The charity now has over 50 local volunteers across the Cotswolds.

Volunteers get out for a one-off or regular litter pick, armed with litter grabbers, gloves and some with hi-vis jackets provided by the charity. Guidance is provided on collecting and disposing of the litter, including recycling where possible and how to report fly tipping.

In some towns and villages co-ordinators are in place organising regular litter picks to help identify particularly bad areas that need cleaning up more regularly.

The Clean-up campaign is part of a wider campaign to find solutions to stop littering in the first place, but alongside this we can all do our bit by picking up litter when we see it as a collective effort to take care of our countryside and environment.

If you live in the North Cotswolds or Berkeley Vale areas and would like to be a part of this campaign please email info@cpreglos.org.uk and you will be sent more information.

More information can be found on the CPRE Gloucestershire website - https://www.cpreglos.org.uk/what-we-care-about/cleaner-countryside/