The hardy folks of Bradford have not let the relentless rain put them off doing what they can to clear up huge amounts of debris from the banks of the River Aire, which was washed down during the Boxing Day flooding
A volunteer initiative to clear the debris was set up in less than a month after record amounts of rain caused devastating flooding across the North of England, including on the Rive Aire in the Bradford district.
The Aire Debris Removal Initiative (AireDRI) is led by Mat Holloway, who set up a facebook page and rallied a team of local volunteers to clear up a stretch of river bank at Hirst Wood, close to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Saltaire.
On Sunday 24 January in just under two hours with eight volunteers they collected 22 bags of debris from along the banks of the River Aire, ranging from plant pots to sofa cushions.
The following week, after word had spread via facebook, around 100 people turned out to help and over 100 sacks of debris were collected from the banks at Roberts Park in Saltaire.
And although the group had to postpone the planned collection on 7 February, due to a forecast of continual rain and rising river levels, they were back out on Valentine’s Day, sharing the love and making a difference and were able to complete the cancelled event a month later, successfully collecting around 60 bags of debris.
The group have been working with Shipley Area Co-ordinator's Office, part of the Bradford Council's Neighbourhood Service, who have provided litter pickers and refuse sacks and have collected and disposed of the mountains of collected waste following each session.
Countryside and Rights of Way officers and wardens from Bradford Council have joined in and hope to expand the initiative to a weekday in the near future.
The group will next meet on Sunday the 13 and hope to run more events in the future and get further sections of the river bank cleared before Spring comes in to full force at the end of March.
Mat Holloway, organiser of the initiative, said: "This started with a small number of volunteers and has grown with a fantastic turnout of close to 100 people who came along to the event in Roberts Park. We have collected all sorts of rubbish thrown up by the floods, part of a bath tub, an old TV, bits of bikes, doors, fluorescent tubes and even part of an oven, as well as lots and lots of bits of plastic and have so far removed over 500 bags of debris from the River Aire.
"Bradford Council has been great. They have provided sacks and litter pickers have collected the waste at the end of the sessions. Their Countryside and Rights of Way Officers and Wardens have also been immensely helpful and without such great community effort, none of this could have taken place.”
Coun Val Slater, Deputy Leader of Bradford Council said: "The flooding which hit our district on Boxing Day had a devastating effect on communities, and initiatives like this show that people can make a massive difference to their communities, for example by being good neighbours, volunteering and taking action to fix local problems.
"The flooding really made a mess of some of the most beautiful areas of banks of the River Aire and it’s really inspiring to hear about what people do in their local areas and the Aire Debris Removal Initiative is a fantastic example of where people can be good neighbour and community champion and really made a difference.”
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