News - How green is my valley?

Wigan’s Douglas Valley is looking better than ever thanks to the efforts of some eco-conscious volunteers who decided to give it a spring clean.

Recently the Whelley-based Friends of Douglas Valley took to the Valley armed with litter pickers and bags. The nine-strong group gathered a massive 30 bags of rubbish from the footpath which runs along the river from Great Acre to Central Park Way.

They found everything from cans, plastic bags, sweet wrappers, bottles and broken glass.

John Belshaw of the Friends of Douglas Valley says:

“As a local I regularly use this pathway and it saddens me to see how untidy it is. I can’t believe that people are still throwing such litter knowing the problems it causes.”

John adds:

“This is our fourth clean up since we formed in 2007 and I am amazed at how much we collected. We’ll continue to carry out these clean up and we always willing to welcome a few more volunteers on board.”

Wigan Council’s Environmental Education team provided the volunteers with gloves, bags and litter-pickers for the clean-up, as well as collecting the rubbish at the end.

Environmental Education team leader Nick Burdekin says:

“We are always ready to support groups that want to get involved in environmental improvement projects and we want to spread the message about how important it is to keep our area tidy.”

• To find out more about how to get involved in initiatives such as the national Big Tidy Up, call the Environmental Education Team on 01942 488222.