By The Tenant Involvement Team
At a recent meeting with Rotherham Council (RMBC) staff to discuss the Fitzwilliam Estate, it was agreed to hold three community days on the estate. These will comprise of a community skip/litter pick, a RMBC services day, where residents can speak to council staff for advice etc and a family fun day, all to take place within the next few months.
The community skip was planned and booked for Friday 28 June at 9am until full, the Councillors wanted the skip day to go head as soon as possible, despite them not being able to attend due to it being the election period, as it has been a while since skips were available for residents on that estate. Rotherfed staff lent a helping hand at the event and worked with RMBC Housing officers to ensure the clean-up ran smoothly.
The initiative, aimed at helping residents dispose of unwanted items and declutter their homes, saw enthusiastic participation from the local community fill two skips with a vast assortment of refuse, in a very short space of time. Mear’s caretakers also assisted by collecting waste from residents’ gardens and picking up bulky items which they couldn’t get to the skip themselves.
Community skip days are always a much-needed service, enabling households to get rid of bulky waste that is typically hard to manage, and it supports residents that have no way to take rubbish to the tip. The overall aim of this is an attempt to help reduce fly tipping in the area and make the estate cleaner and safer for residents. Due to the demand, another community skip day will be investigated for later in the year.
A community litter pick is also in the process of being planned and this will hopefully be towards the end of July/beginning of August, during the school holidays so that the children can be involved too. Councillors will also participate in the litter pick.