Dereham Litter

Help clean up Dereham litter with us

Dereham Community Litter Pick Group was formed in August 2021 by Laura Steward, Holly Steward and Leanne Jarman, the Morrisons Community Champion. Between us we were fed up with the state of our streets, and green areas, and wanted to do something to make a positive impact. Little did we realise just what an amazing group of people we would meet along the way and what a difference the group would make to the town.

20 months later and we’ve had over 160 volunteers join us, carried out 45 litter picks and collected over 1000 bags of rubbish. Since June 2022 we have collected a staggering 2300kg of rubbish.

We generally have a litter pick every other Saturday morning from 10am till 12pm, meeting near Dad’s and Lad’s in the Cherry Tree Car Park.

We became a Small Charity Constitution and have gained some grants so that we could buy our own equipment, insurance and other essentials needed when running a community group.

Borrow our equipment to create your own litter pick!

We have started loaning our equipment out to schools, and other community groups, and have carried out a litter pick with local groups. We are also looking for local businesses to sponsor our picks, half of the sponsorship money will go to local good causes and the other half to the group to help us continue to make a difference. Of course, a high amount of litter is takeaway rubbish: McDonald’s Dereham are now sending colleagues to join us once a month for which we are really grateful.

We recently joined forces with Breckland Council for their ‘Big Dereham Clean up’ We were joined by Breckland Councillors, the Dereham Town Mayor and Breckland Staff for a 1 hour litter pick. 26 volunteers collected 82kg of rubbish in that short time. Did we make a difference? Well, that was 82kg of rubbish no longer on our streets, but what is really needed is more education, both at home by parents, and in schools, on the impact of littering.

Duke of Edinburgh Award scheme

We engage with older children doing their Duke of Edinburgh Award and can help younger children to achieve their Green Blue Peter badge, and therefore a Blue Peter card to gain entrance to attractions for free.

If you spot us around Dereham in our custom made high viz vests, please say hi, give us a toot or talk to us about what we do. Even better, if you wish to join us, please get in contact or just come along.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or look out for our regular events. We also attend Dereham Day and the Christmas Lights Switch On so come and have a chat with us there.