More than 5000 bags of rubbish collected as part of ‘Big Town Tidy Up’

A Hartlepool Facebook page, ‘Big Town Tidy Up’ brought together more than 800 members to take part in cleaning up the town. The group for like minded people who aim to keep the town tidy, sees members regularly go to the page to post images of the bags of rubbish they have collected in their local area.

One of the admins of the group, Danny Oram said: “Over the last 12 months since the group started has been really amazing, and the residents of the town are taking pride in getting involved, keeping the town tidy and posting and sharing their ‘tidy ups’ when it suits them.”

Danny has said that more than 5000 bags of litter have been collected and is keen to see the group reach 1000 members this year.

A mystery man seen picking up litter in Hartlepool caused a stir at the beginning of 2020 in the ‘Town of Hartlepool’ Facebook page were locals praised him for his efforts. He was later identified as ‘Big Town Tidy Up’ group member, Russ Cranker.

Russ Cranker, 60 who is retired, moved from Canada to Hartlepool four years ago with his wife Gillian and wants to create a better environment for his grandson by keeping the area around his school clean, and says he spends around two hours each morning picking up litter in his neighbourhood, Merlin Way ‘end to end’ and also Hart Lane from the Tesco traffic lights to Hart Village roundabout.

He said: “I started cleaning my area about three years ago after trying to walk my grandson around tons of trash in the neighbourhood.

“I turned my morning walk into a litter pick and my exercise needs, when Big Town Tidy Up came along I decided to join like minded people just to add my efforts to their cause.

“I can’t clean the world but I can try to keep my part of it clean.”