A big yellow road-sweeper proved a great attraction for pupils at St John’s C of E School, Huntingdon who spent a morning finding out about Huntingdonshire District Council’s role in helping to keep their town’s streets clean and litter-free and learning how they can contribute towards ensuring a spick and span environment.
Each class in turn were shown by the sweeper’s driver Robin Lambert how it worked and then took turns to use the high-pressure hose that washes the streets and pavements. Their morning started with a presentation during assembly by Matthew Freemantle, street cleansing team leader, who took along refuse and recycling bins for the children to discover which items are disposed of in which colour bin. A litter pick of the school grounds was also included and the children were given a bright green froggy litter bin for the school playground, and each pupil went back to class with a ruler and bookmark handed to them by Jane Owen from the council’s new street ranger service.
Accompanying the council’s team were Police Community Support Officer, Jo Grant, and Luminus neighbourhood warden Lisa Harris.
Councillor Colin Hyams, executive councillor for operations, parks, and countryside, greeted each class of children. He said afterwards: “It was a fun morning and the children were very attentive and eager to participate. I hope they will go home and tell their parents not only did they sit in the back of a police vehicle but learnt a lot about litter. These youngsters are our future citizens and it is important they be enthused to encourage their families to support our recycling and litter prevention initiatives.”
St John’s school Headteacher Helen Curtis said: “The children thoroughly enjoyed the activities. We were
thrilled to be able to cement our partnership with Huntingdonshire District Council by promoting key environmental messages to the future citizens of Huntingdon. The support of our local street wardens and police community support officer meant that we could help our children know that we all take pride in our community and can work together to improve our environment.”
This educational visit is part of a wider campaign led by Huntingdonshire District Council to tackle fly- tipping in the district. To help keep the district clean and safe you can report fly tipping on 0800 389 6613.