Student volunteers ready to clean up in Bangor

Feb 24 2010

A BID by Student Volunteering Bangor to improve the local environment has been given a boost thanks to a cash injection by Keep Wales Tidy.

Student Volunteering Bangor operates 16 community projects within the community including children’s clubs and trips out for local senior citizens.

Since 2007, a group of dedicated students have carried out beach cleans in and around Anglesey and Gwynedd and following requests from other students, all willing to take part, will now extend this project to target areas of the city of Bangor with upwards of five large scale litter picks scheduled for 2010.

Helen Munro, student volunteering manager, said: "We definitely have the enthusiasm within the student body to make a difference to the visual appearance of the local area with our planned litter picks.

"Students in Bangor are very often getting blamed for littering and making a mess but our project goes to show that not all students are ready to be labelled in the same way.

"There are over 200 students within Student Volunteering Bangor undertaking more than 450 hours of volunteer work in the Bangor community every week."

Through the Green Communities Project, Keep Wales Tidy is able to offer financial assistance to community groups who have demonstrated a commitment to restoring their communities to their former glory.

The cash support has been made possible by funding from the Assembly Government and European Regional Development Interreg 4A Ireland Wales Programme and will be used by volunteer groups to help cover the costs of insurance, tools, equipment, publicity and training.

Additional support for communities is offered by Keep Wales Tidy appointed project officers who are on hand across Wales to offer help and advice on forming groups, holding events and applying for grants.

For more information on Keep Wales Tidy’s small grants scheme or to get contact details of your local project officer please call 029 20381 721 or email: greencommunities@keepwalestidy.org.

For more information about Student Volunteering Bangor, call Helen on (01248) 388021 or email svb@undeb.bangor.ac.uk