The spirit of the Evening Mail Big Clean 2016 campaign was perfectly showcased as business sponsors sent a group of volunteers to team up with some primary school environmental crusaders to tidy up a part of their community close to their hearts.

Staff from Kimberly-Clark, led by mill manager Crichton Waddell, joined pupils from Ormsgill School at the Ormsgill skate park in Schneider Road yesterday.

The group of pupils were made up of the entire Year Six class, plus representatives of the school council from Years 1-5.

Head boy Jason Forsyth, 10, of Roose Road, Barrow, said: "When we were in our school council meeting we were all talking about the Big Clean. We came up with quite a lot of places we could tidy up but eventually we narrowed it down to just a few. The skate park is really popular with children at the school, even the younger ones so we decided to hold our clean here."

The children were in high spirits, perhaps anticipating their summer holidays which begin on Thursday. They divided up into teams with different members of staff from Kimberly-Clark and set off to scour the play area for litter.

Ormsgill headteacher Mick Cull rolled up his sleeves to join in with his pupils. He said: "I am really glad that we were able to team up with Kimberly-Clark. I think it is really important to teach the children that there are groups of people like the Kimberly-Clark employees who are working to make Barrow a better place.

"This is the first year we have taken part in the Big Clean campaign and it has been a really fun morning. It is good for the children to learn from a young age to care for their community and encourage them to grow into good citizens."

Sponsors Kimberly-Clark have been involved in the campaign for three years and are always eager to be actively involved. At the end of their morning's work, the team presented the primary pupils with cuddly toy Andrex puppies.

Mr Waddell said: "This is the first year I have personally been involved with the litter pick and it's great to work with Ormsgill School. I am so glad that the children picked the skate park as the area they wanted to concentrate on.

"The skate park is close to the school itself and the pupils are able to see the direct impact they are having on improving their community."

To get involved in the Evening Mail's Big Clean please contact: gabrielle.rowley@nwemail.co.uk

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