Words and photography by Ed King (images under copyright)
Erdington Litter Busters will be organising their monthly community litter pick on Saturday 7 September, cleaning the streets around Gravelly Hill, Minstead Road, Salford Circus, and the end of Slade Road near the Spaghetti Junction.
Group members and any new recruits are invited to meet at 10am by the Esso Amarda garage on the corner of Powick Road and Slade Road, with litter picking equipment and rubbish bags provided.
The community litter pick will then run until 11:30am, when light refreshments will be provided to all those who took part.
Holding a community litter pick on the first Saturday of every month, ELB can often be seen cleaning the streets across the constituency – with previous locations this year including areas around the Tyburn House Pub by Chester Road and Kingsbury Road, roads off Erdington High Street and around Six Ways Island, around Gravelly Hill Train Station in Stockland Green, and around the Lidl supermarket on Tyburn Road.
Keen to be a socially active action group, ELB organisers always put some cash in the kitty for some refreshments after each community pick to say thank you to group members and encourage a growing sense of community.
Ruth Dillon from Erdington Litter Busters told Erdington Local: “Every month ELB choose a different part of our community to organise a litter pick covering as wide an area as possible.
“This gives our members the opportunity to meet other members and to support each other by coming together in different parts of our community to litter pick.”
She added: “A very important part of our community picks is the social time afterwards. We always like to factor in a chat over a coffee after the pick.
“This is a very small thank you for our great appreciation of everything our members do to make our community a better place to live.”
Due to the busy traffic around the Spaghetti Junction, organisers have advised this month’s litter pick is not suitable for children.
The group have further outlined their Health and Safety Policy for all adults taking part and will appoint “a designated leader from our Core Management Group” who will lead the litter pick having previously visited the site and “assessed the area beforehand”.
Organisers have also signposted a separate litter pick being organised on the same day by Friends of Witton Lakes (FOWL), suggesting anyone who wants to get involved in cleaning up the area but would prefer an off-road location should join FOWL at the Eco Hub at 9:45am on Saturday 7 September.
A prominent community action group, Erdington Litter Busters play a significant part in keeping Erdington clean – arguably picking up the slack left by stripped Council services.
The group also have their own allotment, organise community gardening, and have been responsible for planting flower beds and bringing natural beauty to public thoroughfares such as Six Ways Islands and the central reservation on Sutton New Road.
Outside of the regular litter picks, ELB invite members to ‘adopt a street’ and keep their own roads and Cul-De-Sacs clean – with their Facebook page stating there are “around 200 places currently adopted” and a 3.5m stretch of canal.
The group have also played a part in the strategic development of constituency, including a campaign to stop more betting shops from opening on Erdington High Street and supporting the multi-million pound Levelling Up Fund bid to regenerate Erdington Town Centre.
Ruth Dillon from ELB added: “Despite the great enthusiasm of our members we know that there are many issues that we cannot tackle and need the support of the council.
“So, we are very active in reporting any issues that we find such as flytipping, faults with road signage, and pavement repairs through FixMyStreet.”
For more on Erdington Litter Busters visit www.erdingtonlitterbusters.com