Sunday 10th May saw an unusual gathering in Astwood & Hardmead - gangs of hi-vis clad litter pickers swarmed onto the verges of the A422 to pick up the 'inadverent' discarded waste kindly provided by passing motorists.

The turnout was higher than expected (a joy!), and after Emma's safety briefing in Astwood Village Hall, the Astwood crew was on its way to join up with the Hardmead team, in a coordinated pincer movement 🤣

After an hour's worth of intense scavenging, the teams returned to the Village Hall, just in time for the coffee morning to start up, to indulge in hot drinks, crumbly cakes and bountiful bacon baps (solely in the interest of replacing lost energy, you'll understand... 🤔).

The event was a great success, with at least 10 large bags of litter being collected. A huge "thank you" goes to Karen & Heather (Hardmead) for the initiative, to Nick & Kat for the extra litter-pickers, to Pauline & Keith McLean for the robust bags, and to Emma for keeping us safe!

The event was hugely successful - not only does the Astwood <-> Hardmead section look tidier today; large amounts of dangerous rubbish (broken bottles, sharply-cut cans, discarded crisp wrappers) were removed from presenting harm to our wildlife.

Please watch the website - with the positive outcome of Sunday's event, many voices were heard to support regular litter-picking events, so we'll be looking to put together a rota of regular events to keep our lovely villages as beautiful as possible!