'I pick up rubbish because I love where I live'

A woman who organises hundreds of volunteer litter-pickers across three counties says keeping her local area clean is now a "full-time job".

Carol Ludwig started collecting rubbish about 11 years ago after moving to Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire.

"I said to my husband we've got to do something about this," she said. "All this litter seemed to appear from nowhere and things buried, thrown in the bushes."

Her Keep Tenbury Clean and Green Community Group now has almost 440 members and also helps tidy up parts of Herefordshire and Shropshire.

The community-minded volunteer, whose group won a BBC Radio Hereford & Worcester Make a Difference Award in 2024, said people sometimes responded negatively to her efforts, wondering why she did not leave it to council workers.

She said she tells them: "'Don't you love where you live? Because I do'".

Her group is now calling for increased education on the detrimental effects of rubbish, with fellow volunteer Jus Raymond saying children should be involved in litter-picking as part of the school curriculum.

"Everything you can throw away now and it's cheaper to buy something new than fix it or repair it," she explained. "Kids aren't necessarily brought up to take everything home."

Ludwig says littering is actually getting worse, with the most shocking thing she has seen on her recent rounds being an abandoned bin filled with dirty nappies.

"At that moment in time I was nearly sick," she said.

She feels her volunteers should be appreciated more, since they are providing a service councils should offer.

Despite her frustrations, she described her relationship with Malvern Hills District Council, which provides volunteers with equipment, as "good", as well as saying that the litter-picks are "addictive".

"The benefit of it is your wellbeing," she said.

Raymond added: "It's something you can feel the immediate effects of.

"When you go out you socialise as well, you're getting exercise, you pick litter up. You feel as if you've made an impact."

She encouraged people to get involved by searching online for their local community green group, or even to start one.

"Be an innovator," Raymond urges.

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