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'Taking pride in area has helped us make new friends'

Elliot JessettLocal Democracy Reporting Service
News imageLDRS Pauline Shaw and Carol Seddon smile as they pose together on a road in thier high-visability orange and yellow jacketsLDRS
Pauline Shaw and Carol Seddon have helped clean up parts of Bootle for many years

"It just goes to show we're not fair-weather Wombles."

Pauline Shaw is part of the Bootle Action Group (BAG), which recently received The King's Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS), also known as the MBE for volunteer groups.

It's raining but the 68-year-old is picking up litter around a local park in Bootle, Merseyside.

Her fellow volunteer Carol Seddon, 58, who joined BAG eight years ago, says she "enjoys making the area look better".

News imageldrs Tony and Philip Jones pose in orange hi-vis jackets and blue hats with litter-picking equipment in front of about a dozen white bages of rubbish. They are in front of railings around the park entrance with a derelict old redbrick house behind.ldrs
Brothers Tony and Philip Jones are also part of the group

"I didn't like coming out and going to work in the morning and looking at loads of bags of rubbish everywhere, it was absolutely horrendous. So work like today is great.

"I take the example from my mum because she's 88 and she's still out cleaning her step and taking pride in her home. If everyone did that, things would be a lot cleaner and tidier."

Despite being busy with her family and a full-time job, she also loves being part of the volunteer group because she's made new friends.

'We try to help'

Karen Gillet, 59, who has been in BAG for the past nine years, says: "The best part is getting out in the fresh air, meeting people I would never have met and the sense I'm doing something positive."

She gets "satisfaction" from noticing the difference at the end of the day and realising they've made a positive contribution locally.

"I've lived in Bootle for 25 years and the litter issues have got worse and you can put a lot of that down to the cuts in council funding.

"In that sense, we've come in to try to help rather than just leaving things."

News imageLDRS Michael Brennan smiles as he stands in front of the railings around the park field with tress in the backdrop. He wears a blue top under a sleeveless high-visability yellow jacket.LDRS
BAG founder Michael Brennan says they want to inspire people to look after their area

Michael Brennan, who founded BAG in 2016, adds: "People will say to us, isn't that the council's job?

"And that's a fair point but I also say, the council didn't put the litter there.

"The vast majority of people don't do that but some do and it's a serious problem."

He says the area has an "absolutely amazing community but I think in the last 10 years, it kind of fell to the wayside".

"It's just trying to get people out again and say, you know, we all live here, let's go out and do some something positive and provide something for the next generation."

Tony Jones, who is cleaning up with his brother Philip, says: "I want to show my kids you can make a difference to your community, so they won't come out throwing rubbish on the floor and so they can see there's a positive way of living."

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