IN the hope of ridding the streets of south Cumbria of rubbish, The Mail has teamed up with Barrow’s Kimberly-Clark for The Big Clean.

The litter-picking initiative aims to encourage the community to take pride in where they live and rid the streets of litter.

The latest participants to take part were eight members from Kimberly-Clark, alongside 27 Year Six pupils from St James’ School.

The tackled rubbish in Urban Park in Blake Street.

Kimberly-Clark project lead, Natalie Teasdale said: “It’s about getting through to these pupils now.

“These children need to learn about taking care of their area.

“We live in such a beautiful corner of the UK and sometimes people forget that.

“Even during out-of-school hours, we need to instil into these children how important it is to recycle and think about their actions.

“I’m confident this project and future Big Cleans will help the children get others in the community involved, which is our long-term goal.”

St James’ School teacher Jackie Rushton said: “To work with an organisation such as Kimberly-Clark is important because it brings the community together.

“Our pupils and the public need to understand that littering is everyone’s responsibility.

“There has been examples of our pupils from Year Five going to the Urban Park to clean up the area off their own backs, which is great to see, but shouldn’t be happening in the first place.

“Going forward, St James’ School is looking to implement a community day each month, which will see pupils help the community with various projects like the Big Clean.”

Councillor and St James’ governing chair, Dave Pidduck said: “By getting involved with these clean-up projects, the pupils are setting not just an example for their fellow classmates, but for the wider community.

“These projects are critical to change the public’s perception on littering.

“At St James, we teach work ethic, so it isn’t uncommon for pupils to man our reception phones and take notes.

“As a community we need to inspire and encourage each other to take responsibility for their actions.”

Ms Teasdale added: “Kimberly-Clark is sponsoring other events around the Furness and South Copeland area, including Tour de Furness, Millom School’s bike ride event, and we also sponsor various junior football teams.”

If you would like to get involved with a future Big Clean, then email The Mail’s editor on: Vanessa.Sims@newsquest.co.uk