Local community programme, RiverCare, Boston Rowing Club and Lincolnshire Community Voluntary Service working with Boston Big Local teamed up to organise a community river clean to help alleviate the issue of rubbish left behind along the River Witham in Boston.
If you walk along the bank after high tide, you can quickly and easily find waste pollution that has washed in. Plastic bottles, bags, confectionary wrappers, polystyrene, and larger items can all be present. Litter and plastic pollution in our streams, rivers, and seas is causing an environmental crisis.
Group leader, Jackie Lane said, “A huge thank you to the lovely group of volunteers who came along on a very windy Saturday morning to help litter pick along the bank of the River Witham.
“The litter pick started from the Boston Rowing Club and a group of 19 volunteers worked throughout the morning collecting litter – including 2 bikes, 2 scooters, a mattress, traffic cones, garden tools, a rake and around 38 bags of rubbish.
Stephen from ASDA very kindly brought along refreshments, the Rowing Club let us use their facilities and Boston Borough Council helped pick up all the rubbish.”
The RiverCare programme, delivered by Keep Britain Tidy in partnership with Anglian Water, has been running for over two decades and encourages local communities to take responsibility for their blue habitats, undertaking various activities focused on maintaining the beauty of our rivers and safety of wildlife.
Catherine Holborn from Keep Britain Tidy said, “We are over the moon with how many people came along to help in Boston. The more people actively clearing litter pollution means there is less left alongside and in the river.”
If you would like to join the Boston RiverCare please get in touch with Jackie Lane at Lincolnshire Community and Voluntary Service, email: jackielane@lincolnshirecvs.org.uk. Our next River litter pick will be held in March as part of Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean.