A clean sweep

Passionate about keeping Diss rubbishfree, the Diss Litterpicking Group has grown from strength to strength since its first official pick in August. Powered by members of the public, town councillors, representatives from local groups and businesses, it’s helping keep Diss’ streets spick and span. The group’s founder, George Waterman shares his vision below.

Great support from the start “The group was started after I moved to the town in April and noticed that there was a lot of litter in residential streets, public spaces and countryside verges. We were lucky to have great support from the start. Diss Town Council helped us get up and running and helped with the disposal of the litter collected. And the Co-Op Funeralcare’s Community Pioneer, Karen Sheen, helped me make all the contacts necessary to establish a venue and gather support from local businesses and other community groups in the town. Without them, my relatively small independent project simply would not have been as successful as it is. “The response to the group from Diss residents has been very positive. Using Facebook, people have been sending in their suggestions of what parts of the town could do with our help. We’ve also had kind offers of refreshments from the Time Out Coffee & Food and Fair Green Fish Bar, and equipment and sacks donated to us by the Bargain Shop, Morrison's and Truck Monkey Garage to name a few.

A mixed bag “We meet on the second Saturday of every month and usually have between 10 and 20 people joining us. As well as being rewarding, it’s also quite an eye-opening experience. Some examples of unusual items found include chair cushions, car parts, socks and shoes. The most sacks we’ve filled in a single morning is well over 20, with the average being about 18. We have so far cleared Taylor Road, Skelton Road, Fisher Road, Roydon Road, the park, Fair Green and more.

Help for other initiatives “As far as the future goes, we simply intend to keep clearing different areas of the town. If anyone else in the local area has an idea for a project or group and needs some support to get it off the ground, they shouldn’t hesitate to speak either to myself or anyone else involved – particularly Karen at the Co-op. Different groups within the town, when working together, can achieve many wonderful things.”

Get in contact For more information and to contact George, search for the Diss Litterpicking Group on Facebook.