Mansfield's Just Bin It litter campaign continues to grow

Two youngsters with the fruits of their labours after a litter-pick at Racecourse Park in Mansfield.

Just Bin It, which was the brainchild last October of community champion Stewart Rickersey and his wife Sharon, now has no fewer than 317 volunteers ridding the town of its rubbish.

And the bug has even spread to Kirkby, Sutton, Warsop and Shirebrook, where similar schemes are set to get under way.

"It is going astonishingly well,” beamed Stewart, well-known former businessman and councillor.

Two youngsters hard at work picking litter, as part of the Just Bin It initiative, at Racecourse Park in Mansfield.

"New litter-pickers are being registered every day, and there is no doubt the campaign is making a big difference.

"As I drive around Mansfield the improvement is very obvious, and we are thrilled with how it is going.”

Just Bin It is backed by Mansfield Rotary Club, which has spent £2,000 on buying 500 litter-picking tools.

Volunteers are invited to register for free as litter-pickers, and they each receive a tool to go out and clean up their neighbourhood by filling bags with rubbish.

So popular has the scheme been that once Rotary’s financial backing runs out after the summer, Stewart is considering looking for commercial sponsorship so that it continue throughout the year.

“It is one of the best things the club has done,” he said. “Lots of people are involved, and it is clearly meeting a local demand.

"We are uniting people and creating a little Just Bin It community.”

Later this month, the Just Bin It volunteers are being encouraged to take part in the Great British Spring Clean, which is being organised by the Keep Britain Tidy charity and runs from May 28 to June 13.