Community Volunteers Combat Fly-Tipping for Park Safety

A local community organization in Birmingham is actively addressing illegal waste dumping within their park to ensure it remains a safe and enjoyable space for all. The Friends of Spark Green Park, situated in Sparkbrook, was established last year with the purpose of removing discarded refuse from the vicinity through consistent litter collection and tree planting initiatives. Sadia Khan, the group’s vice chair, stated that the efforts of approximately 20 volunteers have brought about a significant positive change for the community, which now benefits from a “cleaner, greener environment.” Ms Khan remarked, “It’s a sanctuary from all of the hustle bustle busy streets, we’ve got a lot of potential in this park that we can use and build upon.” When the group initially commenced its operations, members would collect a minimum of 10 to 12 bags of litter during a single session, but this quantity has since decreased by over half. Ms Khan noted that the ongoing work has “considerably changed” the park and fostered a greater sense of environmental responsibility among individuals, making them “more conscious” of their surroundings. Volunteer Darakhshanda Sadia commented, “The park is surrounded by the shops and the markets, so people come here to enjoy food but they don’t respect the area.” She further explained that regularly involving schoolchildren in these events helps them to understand that people should not be littering. For Ms Sadia, the process of cleaning up the park offers numerous advantages, including fostering connections within the community and encouraging increased physical activity. She elaborated, “It’s not just the litter-picking in the park, we are going to other groups and participating in their activities as well so we are growing our community.” She added, “It’s fantastic that everybody is keen to get involved and we want more people to help us.” For updates, follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X, and Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content found on external websites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available.