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Going for Gold – Carrie’s volunteer story
One of the great things about being a #2minute Litterpick Volunteer with CPRE Somerset is that anyone of any age can join in. We have had several young people approach us about doing litterpicking as part of the volunteering element of their Duke of Edinburgh Award. We are always delighted to welcome young, enthusiastic volunteers as part of our CPRE litterpicking army and we are happy to help with any forms or feedback needed for the DofE Award.
Carrie Hawker has been volunteering with us for over a year and has completed her Gold DofE Award – here is her story in her own words. If you feel inspired, why not try volunteering with us too?
I began my volunteering with CPRE Somerset, the Countryside Charity, in February 2021. I was given a litterpicker, some gloves and a hi vis vest and, like all our #2minute litterpick volunteers, I signed Somerset Waste’s Pledge Against Preventable Plastic
I have been logging my activity on the system every week since I joined, doing at least an hour a week for my DofE Gold volunteer section. I did litter picking in multiple different weathers, however if it was colder the sessions were shorter. I began volunteering when schools were closed due to Covid 19, as it meant I had a lot of spare time and was able to spend more time litter picking. I have done a litterpick in my local area in different locations, every week since then. I have litter picked around my neighbourhood, local green areas, nearby playgrounds and near local schools.
After clean | Carrie Hawker
The majority of the time I would collect at least a small bag of rubbish, and would try my best to recycle as much as I can. I would often get a lot of drink cans and plastic bottles, which I could often recycle which was good as not only did the environment become cleaner, the rubbish itself would be reduced as if not picked up it wouldn’t have been recycled. I also got a lot of cigarette ends when litter picking around my neighbourhood, and this made a big difference to the appearance of the road and pavement.
I feel proud of what I have done and I am very happy that I’ve been able to help the environment, I am going to keep picking up rubbish where I can and keeping helping the environment.
