A big yellow road-sweeper proved a great attraction for pupils at Ramsey Junior School 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.
Classes with over 200 pupils, 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 by Matthew Freemantle, street cleansing team leader, followed by a litter pick of the school grounds. 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 Jan Freemantle from the council’s street ranger service.
Accompanying the council’s team were Police Community Support Officer, Marc Robbinson, and Luminus neighbourhood warden Maria Barber. Also in attendance was Roger Clarke the council’s mobile CCTV operator who showed the children the CCTV vehicle and how the cameras are used to keep the community a safe place.
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 they 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.”
Ramsey Junior school Headteacher Mrs D. M. Hannaford 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 people 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 need to take pride in our community and work together to improve our environment.”