Rescue - Rivers and Environmental Spaces Clean Up Event

Sat. 10th and Sun 11th March 2007

The Earley Environmental will be running a group or groups of volunteers to take part in this years RESCUE weekend. We'll be litter-picking on Sunday 11 March only, with morning and afternoon sessions. In the morning, we'll meet at the Interpretation Centre at 10 a.m. for instructions and handing out equipment, and aim to set off by 10.30 for 2 hours. In the afternoon, we'll meet again at 2 p.m. at the Interpretation Centre (in case there's a change of volunteers), and do a further 2 hours. I'm hoping that we can have 2 sets of people both morning and afternoon, and would like to know if there are any specific areas that members feel need a blitz: the only one I've been told of so far is Chalfont Park (across Chalfont Way from ASDA).

There will be quite a bit of walking involved, but if people feel they'd like to help but can't walk far, they could be at the Interpretation Centre to sort plastic and cans, plus glass, and clean them up for recycling. Wokingham DC are providing rubbish bags, and have agreed to collect the full bags from an agreed point on the Monday, as part of the normal rubbish collection in the area.

If you would like to take part, please contact Jean on 0118 986 1115, or by e-mail: jeanh149@btinternet.com.

The extra details below are reproduced from the Reading Borough Councils website.

Rescue is a Reading wide event where local community groups join forces with Reading Borough Council and other agencies to clear their local litter hotspots. In previous years up to 36 groups have cleared up to 100 tonnes of rubbish.

Do you want to volunteer or identify a hotspot? Would your community group like to get involved? Contact Reading Borough Council on the RESCUE hotline 0118 939 0100 or through the RESCUE website. The council will give you the equipment, support and advice to carry out the work safely.

Headquarters for the weekend will be the Waterloo Meadows Children Centre in Elgar Road. There, as well as co-ordinating the clean-up activity, will be refreshments for volunteers and activities for children and young people.

"There's always a great atmosphere over the RESCUE weekend as everyone mucks in to clean up an area. People have fun and also there's a great sense of having achieved something. It's amazing what can be done over the space of a weekend if everyone joins forces," Steve Waite, Lead Councillor for the Environment and Consumer Affairs.

This year - RESCUE's 18th birthday! - has attracted sponsorship from First Great Western Link, the Environment Agency and Groundwork Thames Valley. Local groups are also successful each year in getting local shops and businesses to support their individual events. If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, or want more information about RESCUE, please follow this link.