Students team up to clean up streets of Far Cotton

It was no waste of an afternoon for Geography students and staff from the University of Northampton last week, as they joined forces with the Far Cotton Litter Pickers for a community litter pick to kick off the start of their first academic year.

Taking to the streets of Far Cotton on Thursday 29 October, the litter pickers stepped on it to collect a range of litter discarded in the local area, ranging from takeaway bags to plastic bottles and cigarette ends.

Whilst out on duty, the students engaged with members of the local community and were thanked for volunteering their time to clean up the streets.

For many of the volunteer student litter pickers, it was their first time heading away from Waterside and exploring the community around the campus. First-year Geography student Oliver Hayer-Chambers, who started at the university last week said: “I’ve recently started my first year of studies and live in a student house within the Far Cotton area, so it was great to support my own and the University’s local community.

“I really enjoyed chatting with people from my course and members of the public while we were out and about within the community, and it was a great opportunity to meet my course peers and lecturers.”

Greg Spellman, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science, added: “As Geography students, many of our group will be go on to be key influencers in the management of the environment, while others will work towards enhancing health and wellbeing for those in our towns and cities.

“We run this volunteering early into the year as an opportunity to encourage our students to address local environmental problems first hand, and kick-start them on their critical journey of creating positive change in the world around them as part of our Changemaker ethos.”