Mayor collects over one tonne of rubbish during 24 hour litter pick

From plastic bottles to car tyres, the Mayor found a range of strange and unusual objects. Covering all 15 wards, he started in Immingham at 9am on Tuesday, 1 April, before finishing in Grant Thorold Park at 9am the following day.

Aiming to raise £2,000 for his four mayoral charities Nurtrio, Friendship at Home, YMCA and Jax’s Stoma Appeals, the Mayor was determined to collect as much as possible.

After finishing the challenge, he was thrilled to have made a difference to the borough.

“The whole thing was absolutely amazing, I just love helping people and the community where I can. I wanted to make a real difference in my second mayoral year and have been concentrating on what I can do to help our environment more.

“My message was ‘don’t be a fool, put it in the bin’. Residents are understandably annoyed with seeing litter, but it’s so easy to just put it in the bin or take it home, there’s no reason people should be dropping it on the ground.”

He added: “A huge amount of what we collected could also have been recycled, there must have been hundreds of bottles and it was such a shame to see it just laid on the street.”

Following 24 hours of picking up litter, the Mayor was far from ready for a rest. “I felt great after it all and the welcome I got when I reached Grant Thorold Park was just amazing.

“If I’m honest, I think I could’ve ran a 10k afterwards.”

Having raised over £2,000, the mayoral charities will also see the benefit of the Mayor’s litter pick. “These donations will make a massive difference to the charities. They all do such incredible work and it’s great that I’ve been able to help them in some way.”

However, he couldn’t have done it without the help of those around him. “I would like to say thank you to everyone who helped me. Without them, none of this would have been possible. From picking up litter to raising my spirits, they were essential in helping me through.”

Now in his second Mayoral year, he is looking back on his time with fond memories. “It’s an honour to have been able to do what I’ve done. For me, the best times have been the school visits. Seeing the children’s faces and answering their questions has been absolutely wonderful.”

He added: “When my time as Mayor comes to and end, I’ll continue to help the local community in anyway I can.