Pupils take part in Bexley council’s England’s Green and Pleasant Land (EGPL) project

A small army of litter pickers from schools in South-east London have been helping to clear up the area.

Pupils from schools around Welling took part in Bexley council’s England’s Green and Pleasant Land (EGPL) project.

Schools received £200 to spend on something green and a packet of poppy seeds for every child who took part, to be planted in memory of the people lost in the First World War.

Following a school assembly, delivered by the council’s recycling team, highlighting the devastating effects of litter on our wildlife and local community, classes joined in a community litter pick.

Using litter pickers and gloves the groups picked up rubbish from the streets around their school and in the parks and open spaces nearby.

Many members of the public stopped to thank the school groups for their hard work and congratulate them on making such a positive contribution to their local community.

Bexley council’s Cabinet member for Places, Cllr Peter Craske, said:” This is a great example of how we can all work together to benefit the local community.

People’s willingness to help others is one of the reasons our borough is such a good place to live.

“Devoting time to support other people or your community has all sorts of benefits.

We know that it is good for the people who do it, as well as those they help.

We want to play our part in encouraging and supporting more of this activity and we would like to hear from you how we can help you make a difference in your community.”

EGPL is a partnership initiative between the council’s Schools Waste Action Club and the East Wickham and Welling War Memorial Trust and is open to schools in Welling.

It is part of the Trust’s centenary commemorations to help remember the men from the local community who never returned to Bexley’s green fields and farms.

If you’d like to volunteer to be a litter picker email swac@bexley.gov.uk