Christian Church, Christian faith, littering, picking up everyday litter, youth engagement,
Monday 28th July 2014
A formerly neglected area of the Country Park in Albert Road, South Norwood now looks good, thanks to the efforts of Croydon Victory Youth Group (VYG).
Ten members of the group dedicated their time to giving the park an intense clean up on Saturday 26th of July, as part of the VYG’s annual ‘We Care! – Youth Engagement’ community outreach initiative.
In doing so they earned the thanks of Peter Underwood, the supervisor/park attendant at Albert Road, who said: “These volunteers are a big help in clearing litter and rubbish from an area of the park that we are working to improve.
“They helped remove over 30 bags of rubbish and have offered to come back to help with the on going work to improve the park and keep it as a great place to visit.”
The park is a major resource for the local area and a lot of people use it, but after a period of neglect it was full of litter and rubbish.
As Peter Underwood explained to the VYG volunteers, once people notice that a place is dirty, they treat it as a licence to join in and add to the waste that’s already there. The cleaner the park is kept, the more people are discouraged from littering.
The youths who took part didn’t really know what to expect when they arrived on site early in the morning, but they were up for the challenge and their smiles showed that they were keen to care for their community.
The work they did varied from picking up everyday litter such as plastic bags, cans, and crisp packets to dealing with the results of fly tipping. Furniture, fans, mop buckets, unopened cans of drinks, and suitcases were just some of the items they found and disposed of.
Emani Joof, one of the VYG volunteers said: “This has been my first experience in doing anything like this so naturally I was a bit scared not knowing what to expect But it was a wonderful experience, it felt really good giving back to my community and helping out in a park I sometimes visit.
“Knowing that others will be able to walk through a nice park gives me a great sense of achievement. We found all sorts of strange things while clearing the area. The experience has taught me to look after my environment and to avoid littering.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
UCKG is a Christian church and registered charity that offers a range of practical support activities alongside spiritual support and comfort and welcomes all-comers. It reached the UK in 1995 and has gone from strength to strength, providing support and spreading the Christian faith. There are UCKG HelpCentre branches in England and Wales.
VYG is the UCKG HelpCentre’s youth group. Open to 15 – 25 year olds, the VYG provides family-style peer group support and helps and encourages the young to be the best that they can be.
For further information please contact the UCKG HelpCentre Press Officer via e-mail on press@uckgnew.org or direct line 020 7686 6033.
