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Join the big canal clean up

13th Sep 2006

British Waterways and an assortment of youth and conservation groups in Sheffield are backing ITV’s Big Clean Up of the Blue Loop on Sunday 17th September between 10-4pm.

The event is designed to clean up the river and canal paths between Sheffield and Meadowhall Shopping Centre and to improve Sheffield’s environment.

Jonathan Hart-Woods, Environment and Heritage Manager for British Waterways, Yorkshire said: "With over 432km of canals in Yorkshire to maintain, environmental assistance is always useful especially on a well used urban canal such as the Sheffield and Tinsley. British Waterways has long been aware of the importance of this canal and its links to other waterways in Sheffield, so we are pleased that the project is focusing on the waterway corridor, the 'Blue Loop', rather than looking at the canal and rivers as separate projects.

"The canal is an important green corridor that runs from the outskirts of the city right into Victoria Quays in the city centre and provides a green link for wildlife and canal users of Sheffield such as anglers, boaters, birdwatchers and dog walkers. Popular use on such a small canal leads to a number of environmental issues needing to be tackled and sadly littering is one of them. We hope by working with all the other partners in the 'Blue Loop' project we can make a dent in this big problem."

ITV’s Big Clean Up is a major partnership between CSV, the UK’s largest volunteering charity and v, a new charity designed to inspire a million more young volunteers.

It is hoped that around 300 volunteers will donate their time and help tackle some of the common problems faced on the waterways by way of litter picking, graffiti removal, repairing benches and railings, cleaning signs, cutting back overgrown vegetation and painting lock gates.

CSV volunteer organiser for the ITV Big Clean Up, 17-year-old Hannah Lambert says: “At the end of the day, as a thank you to volunteers, some fun activities such as canoeing and rafting will be available. It is brilliant to see so many different groups working together for the benefit of the community. A large number of volunteers have already registered on the ITV website, but we still need more volunteers to make the event a success."

If you would like to give a hand and help clean up the River Don and the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal then register on the ITV website by Friday 15th September. If you still want to join but have missed this deadline then call the hotline number on 0845 803 6885.

The groups backing this initiative include BTCV, The Five Weirs Walk Trust, The Environment Agency, Groundwork, Sheffield City Council’s Street Force, Sheffield Futures, Sheffield Wildlife Trust, SOVA (Sheffield’s Millennium Volunteers), Supertram and Meadowhall which hope to encourage young people aged between 16-25 to get involved in community volunteering.

Last updated: 22/10/2008