This was a first for LoveStoke, not the litter pick, but we had closed a road. Thanks to the Highways department of the City Council we were able to close Hollywall Lane in the Goldenhill area of the City on this Saturday morning to keep our dedicated volunteers safe while they removed rubbish from the lane.

The team were all quite excited that we had managed to organise the road closure, and that we would be cleaning a beautiful country lane, that has been blighted by fly tipping, and the dumping of the contents of people cars and houses all along this secluded stretch of road. Our plea to you while reading this would be, please take your rubbish home or to the local recycling centre. Please don’t deface our City with your discarded bottles, cans, bin bags, TV’s, car parts, plaster, tiles… you name it we find it.

Nothing stops us loving our City. Though the weather was not what we had hoped for, it was very cold, hail stones were coming down horizontal like needles hitting our skin, these being driven by the howling wind all morning. It would have been easy to just go home. Our guys don’t give up though, and our spirits were high and the team just laughed at the wind, hail and how cold we were. The weather didn’t matter though we just wanted to do the best job we could.  We completed a long stretch of the road side and there is still a lot more to be done. The team collected over 70 bags of rubbish in just 3 hours. We hope to return there again later in the year, and want to encourage you to come along. You could give a few hours on a Saturday morning and with enough of you, the area can be returned to its original state and made safe for the local wildlife.  

If you have an area near you like this one, then why not apply for a project on line. Your application will be considered and we may just come and help you clear it. Just give it a try. We look forward to hearing from you. Thanks again to the Stoke on Trent City Council for collecting all the rubbish at the end of the project.

You can get involved in any of our projects. Please apply to volunteer by clicking on the “get involved” tab on the home page of our website and completing the form. Please follow us on twitter @BCCLovestoke and we will let you know when and where we are meeting for our next project. If you have a project or a community project we would also love to help you. Just complete the form on line and we willl consider your application. If you are succeessful, you could be getting a helping hand from the Love Stoke team.

This weekend, in phase 1, we have prepared the ground ready for phase 2. We cleared a wild garden, and collected over 60 bags of leaves. We also added wood to a new log pile to ecourage insects.

Some volunteers hard at work

Phase 2, will be the construction of some bench seating and some raised flower beds, so the children can learn outside in a clean tidy and safe environment.

The raised beds will provide the children of this school with the chance to grow there own plants from seeds and watch them mature into plants or vegetables.

Never seen digginig over like this.

Thank you so much for your help today. Without you, it just wouldn’t happen. If you’re reading this and you haven’t been to help LoveStoke before, see if you can give up just a few hours of your Saturday. We would love to see you, and we promise you that you’ll want to come again.

Thanks to Ann Green the Head Teacher for serving tea coffee & great biscuits.

Please come back to this web site to see what’s happening next, or follow us on twitter @wwwlovestokeorg.

We are looking for projects for 2012. If you would like us to come to an area near you then please fill out the e-form on the “apply for a project” page. Your application will be processed by the team and we will be in touch if your application is accepted.

Picture taken after the area was complete

Thanks to everyone who planned the event, and all those who took part. Its easy to get involved in Lovestoke, and we would love your help on our next project. Follow wwwlovestokeorg on twitter to keep informed of where and when our next project is. Or you can go to the get involved page on this website. We would love to see you there!