Litter pick collects 50 bags of rubbish from river
A volunteer litter-picking group in Durham collected more than 50 bags of rubbish from the River Wear during its latest monthly clean-up. The Durham City Riverscape Community was set up shortly before the coronavirus pandemic and has since removed tonnes of waste from the waterway, helping to protect riverbanks and tackle fly-tipping in the local area.
Lead volunteer Graham Hollingwood said the group is nearing a milestone of 1,000 bags collected in total, highlighting the scale of ongoing effort by volunteers. He described pulling a full-sized fridge freezer from the river earlier this year as the toughest challenge tackled so far. Both Hollingwood and Adam Shanley, clerk of the City of Durham Parish Council and the group's co-founder, credited the council's funding and support for enabling the volunteers' continued work safeguarding the river.
- Durham volunteers collected 50+ bags of river rubbish in latest clean-up
- Group nearing 1,000-bag milestone since forming pre-pandemic
- Biggest challenge to date was removing a full-sized fridge freezer
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Volunteers in Durham have been running a monthly clean-up of the River Wear, pulling out everything from everyday litter to a fridge freezer. The group behind it, Durham City Riverscape Community, was formed just before the coronavirus pandemic hit and has grown into a long-running effort to protect the riverbanks and reduce fly-tipping in the area.
The clean-ups are led by volunteer Graham Hollingwood, working alongside Adam Shanley, clerk of the City of Durham Parish Council, who co-founded the group. The council provides funding and support that helps keep the monthly sessions running.
The effort matters because it reflects a sustained, community-driven attempt to look after a local waterway that might otherwise accumulate rubbish and waste unnoticed, with the group's rising tally of collected bags illustrating the scale of litter still ending up in the river.