16 volunteers from Cardiff Rivers Group responded to a plea for help from Llanrumney Communities First team to clean up the River Rhymney.
The experienced volunteers joined 12 local residents from Llanrumney along with staff from Keep Wales Tidy for 3 hours on Sunday 6th June for their first river clean of this river. They made the most of the recent dry spell and donned waders to remove rubbish from the riverbed itself. Many of the local residents also took the opportunity to get into the water for the first time and enjoyed wading up and downstream looking for rubbish.
Pics can be viewed here.
Together, they collected tonnes of rubbish from the littered river including; a TV, bike, scooter, shovel, scaffold pipes, cones, carpets, mattresses, trollies, a 5m long drainpipe and various other very heavy metal items. Keep Wales Tidy rigged up a winch which allowed the team to haul out huge pieces of concrete, piping and fencing.
Other volunteers litter-picked the surrounding woodland and fields and managed to sort 8 bags of recyclable materials (cans and plastic bottles) for collection by Cardiff County Council. All volunteers were rewarded by the Communities First team who kindly provided pizza and refreshments at the end of the hard day’s work.
Cardiff Rivers Group Chairman Gerard Opel, said, “This is the first time that our group has ventured to the River Rhymney and we had a really successful day. This is a lovely stretch of river which unfortunately seems to have been subjected to flytipping, so I am really pleased that local residents have decided to take action and start looking after the area and we were delighted to help out”.
Amy McCarthy, Llanrumney Communities First Development Worker said, “I would like to say a big thank you to Cardiff Rivers Group and Keep Wales Tidy for taking the time to come into Llanrumney to help clean the river and also for inspiring the young people from the community, who also took part, by showing them what can be achieved by such a hard working and dedicated team. The young people in the area often receive such a negative response, so it was brilliant to see them challenging those stereotypes and actively taking part in a project that benefits both their environment and community!”
Chris Partridge from Keep Wales Tidy said, ”Residents have shown today that they care about their area and I hope that this inspires more locals to get involved. We would like to replicate the success of Cardiff Rivers Group and set up a dedicated environmental group for Llanrumney who can undertake a wide range of projects. Hopefully today was just the start”.
Cardiff Rivers Group formed in 2009 as part of Keep Wales Tidy’s ‘Tidy Towns’ project, a partnership between Keep Wales Tidy and Welsh local authorities. Funded by the Welsh Assembly Government it supports the people of Wales to improve the quality of their local environment.
Cardiff Rivers Group are always looking for new volunteers, so if you would like to lend a hand, please contact Louise Tambini on 07824 504790 or emaillouise.tambini@keepwalestidy.
If you would like to get involved in a new environmental group for Llanrumney then please contact Chris Partridge on 07717 412270 or emailchris.partridge@keepwalestidy.
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