STUDENTS showed they care for the city by carrying out litter picks near to their places of study.

Two groups took to the streets and parks near their educational establishments to highlight the importance of caring for the city in our Take Pride campaign, launched in conjunction with Worcester City Council.

Seven students from the Worcester College of Technology, who are studying for a diploma in personal progress on the lifeskills course, tackled St Andrew’s Garden in Deansway.

The park is a favourite spot for students to use during breaks and lunch times and is a regular trouble spot for rubbish.

During their clean up on Friday, June 1, they collected several bags, with plastic and tin separated for recycling. Sam Davies, lead tutor of the college’s lifeskills programme, said: “This has been a recurring theme for this class this year as the students have been looking at their rights and responsibilities as citizens.

“They have monitored the amount of litter around the city and were very keen to do something about it.

“They loved sorting out what could go into the recycling bag and what would go to landfill as this is another aspect they have studied this year.

“They also enjoyed wearing the PPE equipment/uniform as one of the aspects of the course is finding supported employment for students and this provided a good work taster.”

The same day a group from University of Worcester were joined by former councillor Margaret Leyland, collecting 20kg of waste for landfill and 22kg for recycling around Hylton Road and Henwick Road.

Katy Boom, the university’s sustainability manager, said: “The students are very pleased to help out on litter picking because it shows just how much can be collected in an hour and they like to let people see that they care about their environment.

“It also gives them a chance to chat to local residents who are always very appreciative and many tell us how pleased they are seeing students helping to clean up the streets.

“Supporting the Take Pride campaign builds on the very good relationship the university has with the city council cleaner and greener team.”

The campaign runs until Friday, July 27.

TAKE PRIDE - HOW YOU CAN TAKE PART To report a city grot spot, tell your neighbourhood cleansing team what to target in your area or to find out more about arranging a community clean up, call the Worcestershire Hub on 01905 722233 or post a comment on Facebook at facebook.com/ worcester.

To tell your Worcester News about litter problems in your neighbourhood, or if you’re organising a litter-pick, contact us on 01905 742284 or e-mail nw@worcesternews.co.uk.