Clean sweep by Ashington students

Posted by The Journal on Feb 19, 09 09:28 AM in School news

An energetic clean-up of Ashington Community Woods by 140 teenagers from Hirst High School in the town resulted in skips full of rubbish and a much greener, cleaner landscape for local people to enjoy.

Teenagers from Hirst High School at Ashington Community Woods

The two-day event was supported by Bedlington-based JBT Waste Services. The company supplied skips to ensure as much of the rubbish was piled high and transported away from the beauty spot. Wansbeck Enterprise Education Network (WEEN) funded the massive clean-up.

Over the past few years tracks and paths at the woods have been much improved, with new entrance features created to welcome visitors. More recently, however, illegal campsites have been set up at the woods.

Although the travellers have now moved on, the damage to the landscape has been considerable.

The concentrated clean-up by hardworking Hirst High pupils transformed the entire area of a former campsite.

This is the first clean-up event WEEN has funded. Andy Gaskell, WEEN's enterprise learning co-ordinator, is delighted with its success. He said: "This project has helped to promote students' pride in their area and a sense that they should do their best to look after their environment.

"The link with JBT Waste Services was really important because clearing the wood illustrated the connection between making the most of our rural areas and JBT's professionalism, as a very successful local business that has made its name by recycling and processing waste."

Hirst High School teacher Helen Wardman designed the event as part of the school's Discovery, Citizenship and Globality curriculum, which aims to help Hirst High students to develop skills that will benefit them in the future.

Richard Watson, JBT Waste Services sales manager, came along to help during the clean-up.

He said: "Seeing messy, rubbish-strewn land come back to life through the efforts of 140 enthusiastic people was a fantastic experience for me.

"JBT was delighted to help this event take place by providing the vital last step - the equipment to take away all the unsightly mess and the processing plant to recycle as much of it as possible.

"In that way, not only the woods but much of the rubbish itself gets a new and valuable lease of life."

Ashington Community Woods covers a square mile of land that was once a colliery spoil heap.

It now houses red squirrel, roe deer, foxes and a range of birds, as well as coniferous and deciduous trees that create a rural retreat surprisingly close to a business park and the town's retail centre. Northumberland County Council manages the park.

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