Our Litter Picking Volunteers

Our Volunteers…

I am a little uncertain as why and how we have come to have the biggest and best group of litter picking volunteers in the area. Indeed, I cannot now remember exactly how we took the decision to become involved with litter picking. When we started, the idea was that we would buy litter picking equipment and lend it out to any of our members who felt enthused to go picking. Initially we envisaged that our litter pickers would decide to adopt a street or a park that they would undertake to keep clear of litter. Then, we established a WhatsApp group so that our volunteers could keep in touch with each other and could, for example, arrange to go out in pairs or small groups if they felt apprehensive.

It is that WhatsApp group that, more than anything else, has allowed our group to grow from strength to strength. Although it continues to serve its original purpose, the WhatsApp group has engendered a certain friendly rivalry, such as, ‘Who can pick the most bags of rubbish?’ (in reality there is never any doubt about that question – it is our star litter picker Barney who picks more than anyone else). The WhatsApp group enables pickers to send photos of their picking activities and to record some of the more unusual items. It is also a very quick way of alerting our pickers to a particular problem. When there was a load of litter at the Tarn shelter, one message was sent out to our pickers and by midday the next day, all the litter was gone.

The fact that the WhatsApp group has become so valuable is very much down to two of our volunteers Moo Ping (Vivienne) Boey and Jolyon West. They have been the driving force behind our volunteers’ success. One of the groups’ most impressive successes has been the establishment of the regular Community Litter Picks. These take place on the last Sunday of each month. This is advertised on the ‘Litter Free Ilkley’ Facebook group that Jolyon has set up (https://www.facebook.com/groups/litterfreeilkley). Unlike the WhatsApp group, which is private, anyone may join the Facebook group to see what our litter pickers have been up to. The litter pickers meet at 11am at the Bandstand and go their various ways litter picking, returning an hour or 90 minutes later for coffee and cakes (and musical entertainment), provided by members of the group. There is then some boasting about how many bags of litter have been collected.

Last Sunday, there was the biggest ever turn out of volunteers. 35 people participated and 33 bags of litter were collected. FoIM contributes directly to these litter picks. We have spent about £900 in total on litter picking equipment. When people turn up for the community litter pick we lend them a pair of (very high quality) pickers, a hoop to hold open their bags (these really help), hi-vis vests and we supply as many bags as they want.

Your Chair participated, picking at all the car parking spaces along Wells Road and up Keighley Old Road. I picked up two full bags of litter, plus a piece of scaffolding pole and a bicycle inner tube (amazing – some cyclist obviously had a puncture, replaced the inner tube and then threw the punctured one into the bracken….). Among the more unusual items were no less than three pairs of discarded knickers. I leave it to members to speculate about them.

We are immensely proud of our litter picking volunteers. Every time they go out, with their hi-vis vests prominently labelled ‘Friends of Ilkley Moor’, they do us a huge amount of good and they are the principal reason why Ilkley is so comparatively free from litter.

And, in the next Newsletter, I hope to give you more information on our Tuesday work parties, including details of the prestigious ‘Golden Mattock’ award to the volunteer who has participated in the greatest number of work parties during the year.

Owen Wells

Chair, Friends of Ilkley Moor

30/1/25