A beautiful winter’s day of volunteering at the View Tube

17 November 2017

The first Greenway Clean-Up back in March was a great success, so we were pleased when Thames Water said they wanted to do another one.

Today, instead of being grey and miserable like the last session, ended up being the perfect winter’s day; clear blue skies and lovely sunshine to set us in good stead for our morning. We had a group of local school children who were shown the ‘Poo Pipe’ by Thames Water staff. The children learnt about what lies beneath the Greenway and what they should be putting down the toilet. The 4 P’s: paper, pee, poo and puke. (Apologies to those with weak constitutions!) Once this knowledge was imparted, we all set to work.

We had staff and partners from Thames Water, London Borough of Newham, Poplar HARCA, Dot Dot Dot, V22 and the View Tube, as well as school children. All together we made up an impressive army of litter pickers. The Greenway around the Viewtube was quite clear already (thanks in large part to our efforts in March), so we worked by the canal and the Greenway access points. Our volunteering team did a super job and we filled more than 30 bags of rubbish in a couple of hours.

One of the volunteers, Zoe (a Dot Dot Dot property guardian), told us, “Volunteering allows me to make more of a difference than I would do alone and it also means I  meet new people. This can be really hard to do in London when everyone is in their own little bubble.”

Whilst the adult volunteers were clearing rubbish, the group of school children set to work clearing lots of fallen leaves that had clogged up our pathways. By midday, things were looking a lot tidier, just in time for tea and cake from the View Tube cafe.

Patrick Harrison from Poplar HARCA said, “All of us involved at the View Tube are really glad to be part of this Thames Water LB Newham venture. It allows all of us to practise our core values and make sure we’re contributing to the community where we are based and making it a better and more welcoming place for our neighbours and visitors.”

(Check out our full selection of pictures, which includes some snaps from Thames Water staff who went to other parts of the Greenway too.)

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