Riverside CommunityCouncil
We are an organisation that:
Acts as a bridge between citizens and public authorities.
Works at a local level, open to all citizens to attend meetings and take part in public deliberation.
Consists of people who volunteer, to help address issues on behalf of their local community.
"On Thursday, 6 June, a small, but perfectly-equipped community team met Lewis Jardine, the ESJ Community Relations' Manager and staff team at the McDonald's Raploch store on a blustery and showery morning, to pick litter throughout Riverside and Forthside.
It was lovely to meet such an enthusiastic and energetic group, and fortified with a coffee, we set off to meet-up at the Engine Shed with a combined team from both the Springkerse and High Street McDonald's stores.
We wound our way from the Raploch store, across to the Old Bridge, and through the underpass to Lovers' Walk. It was good to see Stirling Community Enterprise working on resurfacing the underpasses, and relieved that we could pass without having to do a large detour round Tesco's! The bags started to fill up with plastic cups, shredded paper, a car hubcap, and sundry other bits of plastic.
On the way along Lovers' Walk, we stopped to have a look over the fence at a very large Giant Hogweed plant growing by the river, though we had shared a briefing sheet with the teams beforehand to alert them to how nasty they were if you got sap on your skin. The sap reacts with sunlight and can give you nasty burns and blisters. Avoid! We were surprised to see one sticking out of the drain on Dean Crescent [see attached photo, Pat. Sorry it isn't in landscape, but the rest are].
We then split-up the team to pick the riverside path, James Street, Ronald Place, Forth Street, Edward Road and Rosebery Terrace. We finally met-up again at the Engine Shed, where we found the team from Springkerse. They had stacked their bags in a heap, and judging by the size of the pile, it looked as though they had had the most to do! Forthside Way, Whitehouse Road, Kerse Road, and Players Road seemed to have been the worst affected areas.
Also there to meet us, was the super-dependable council's Land Services truck team [see photo] ready to load up the final count of 24 bags. A big 'Thank You!' to them, who have never been known to leave a refuse bag after a litter-pick for more than an hour! Council 'Team of the Year' perhaps?!
After a group photo [see photos x 2] we said another big 'Thank You!' to Lewis and the McDonald's teams for their magnificent effort, and headed home tired, but happy that another swathe of litter had been removed from our streets. We hope we can work with Lewis and the teams again, and add it to the calendar of quarterly community litter-picks that are being planned for the year.
Finally, we say our last big 'Thank You!' to the community volunteers for their excellent input. Terrific stuff!"