Pink Chicks collect trash and cash!
September's Big Tidy Up is well underway with parish groups, Women's Institutes and church groups across Oxfordshire all undertaking activities to clean up their local area.
Youngsters too are doing their bit to improve their surroundings. Brownie packs, beaver scouts and schools are wielding their litter-pickers to help make the county tidier. One impressive group of 13 year-olds have taken things even further. The 'Pink Chicks' plan, not just to tidy up Barracks Lane and the surrounding areas in east Oxford, but to raise money for charity too.
Local twins Emily and Megan Hart organised this event with their friends. They take their role as Chief Pink Chicks very seriously: "We'll be litter-picking while wearing pink, breast cancer research tops. We hope to increase awareness of the charity and raise cash through sponsorship of each bag of litter collected."
The girls won’t be doing the job on their own as they’re roped in an army of volunteers to help, including the Lord Mayor Cllr Susanna Pressel and Oxford City Council staff who will be recycling as much of the litter as possible.
Cllr Pressel is happy to lend her support to the Pink Chicks: "Youngsters seem to get a lot of bad press these days, but it's commendable to see these young girls giving up their time to support this very worthy cause. It's especially close to my heart, because I had breast cancer about three years ago. Everyone benefits from these actions: the charity, the community and the environment."
The Pink Chicks will be litter-picking on Saturday 20 September, but the Big Tidy Up runs to the end of the month. Cllr Pressel adds: "It's not too late for residents to get involved in organising their own tidy up. Oxfordshire Waste Partnership can help: visit www.oxfordshirewaste.gov.uk or call 01295 221916 to find out more."
