Mountain of rubbish cleared from Salford streets during spring clean

What do a bath tub, a mattress and pair of underpants have in common? They were all cleared from the streets of Salford during a major spring clean.

Salix Homes supported two community clean-ups in Salford as part of the Great British Spring Clean – a national event run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy to encourage people to help clean-up where they live.

Over the course of the two events, which were held in Kersal and Ordsall, volunteers picked up 110 bin bags of waste, plus 12 bags full of plastic bottles and four bin bags of aluminium cans, which will be recycled.

A further 1.2 tonnes of bulk waste was cleared from the streets and green spaces, which included mattresses, sofas, TVs and even an old bath tub.

More than 40 volunteers and Salix Homes staff, including chief executive Lee Sugden and other senior managers, rolled up their sleeves to pick up an array of dumped rubbish and fly-tipped waste, which even included a pair of underpants and some slippers.

Among the volunteers was nine-year-old Kamil, from Kersal, who said: “I wanted to take part in the clean-up because I like to do nice things to help people where I live, plus it’ll be good when I’m playing out with my friends if everywhere is cleaner.”

The first clean-up took place in Ordsall on April 5 and was run in partnership with Salford Council, Greater Manchester Police and New Barracks Tenant Management Organisation.

Salix Homes’ Environmental Team hosted the second clean-up in the Littleton Road area of Kersal on April 18.

Liam Turner, environmental services manager at Salix Homes, said: “We were proud to bring the Great British Spring Clean to Salford and it was fantastic to see so many people lending a hand and taking a bit of ownership of the area where they live.

“I think everyone is well aware of the devasting effect that litter, and particularly plastic waste, is having on our planet, so the efforts of the volunteers will make a positive and visible difference to the environment on our doorstep.

“Building safe, clean and happy communities is a priority for Salix Homes, and we will continue to build on the success of the clean-up events and work with our residents to ensure our neighbourhoods are places where people can be proud to live and work.”

Nationally, the annual clean-up campaign was the most successful yet, with more than 17,000 events held up and down the country, and 4,300 tonnes of rubbish cleared.

Watch our videoabout our community clean-up events in Salford.