03/07/2024
Locals come out for community clean-up event in Norwich
L-R Flagship Services neighbourhood officers Lisa Bielby and Mark Palmer, neighbourhood services manager Joe McNeill, and BITC’s Head of Place (Norwich) Tracey Drake pose by the skips. Image: Flagship Group
Locals in the Cadge Road and Earlham Grove neighbourhood of Norwich came out on Monday 24 June to take part in a community clean-up effort, held at St. Elizabeth’s Church.
Flagship Group’s Neighbourhood Services team secured two skips allowing locals to dispose of items such as old furniture, appliances, and other large household waste. This service was offered free of charge to encourage maximum participation and to support a cleaner, greener community.
The event was organised by Business in the Community (BITC) and Flagship, with assistance from Age UK Norwich who had volunteers litter-picking in the nearby streets. One local resident praised the initiative, saying: “It’s brilliant. There are loads of people who need to get rid of stuff and this means they can, when they can’t get to the tip or anything.”
Word had clearly spread far and wide with the event shared extensively through word of mouth and local social media groups. In just an hour and a half, both skips were almost completely filled up.
Joe McNeill, neighbourhood operations manager for Flagship, said: “The reaction’s been really positive. This is the second time we’ve done this in the last few months, arranging to have skips available so that locals can get rid of that hard-to-shift rubbish.
“It’s open to the entire local community, not just Flagship tenants, because it’s all about having pride in the neighbourhood and building up the community, and we’re so happy it’s something people have been able to make use of.”
A Flagship Services electric van parked up ready to be loaded up with any overflow. Image: Flagship Group
Tracey Drake, Head of Place (Norwich) for BITC, said: “It’s so important to be able to provide a service that people have told us is useful and definitely needed in the area, and the response we’ve had to it really proves how essential this service is.
“BITC is all about bringing people and businesses together to transform lives and help communities thrive, and we’re grateful to Flagship and Age UK for helping to make this happen.”
A similar community event was held in January, with some forty local residents able to make use of the chance to get rid of their unwanted items. The success of that event prompted this one, and shows a need for more in the future.