Clean Sweep is part of a wider project we are participating in to promote ‘Neighbourhood Reassurance’ and you’ll see more information on this inside this newsletter.
The day was a fantastic success and we are absolutely delighted with the results – Spire View was spotless and has never looked better!!! The turnout was fabulous and we were overwhelmed by the support from our residents, especially all those who volunteered their time to pick up litter, paint faces, make badges and hand out refreshments etc. WE COULDN’T HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT YOUR HELP – THANK YOU!!!!
The day was organised by all the Spire View staff (and some husbands) and Community Police Officers for Royston – Martin Macdonald and Carol-Anne Harkins. In addition, we managed to get a phenomenal amount of support from other agencies including Clean Glasgow (ECAT Team), Glasgow Community and Safety Services (GCSS), Community Enforcement Officers, Community Safety Patrol Officers, CCTV team, North Glasgow Community Food Initiative, Cleansing, Land and Environmental Services, Northern Rock etc. Furthermore, we received some financial support / donations from Seddon Decorators, Dulux, Strathclyde Police, Barrs, Asda, Tesco, Strathclyde Fire Brigade, McDonalds, Royston Youth Action and the Full Employment Area Initiative. Quite a team effort all around and it’s fantastic to see the community coming together like this to achieve a great end result!!!
How did we organise the Clean Up?
In the lead up to the big event on 15th September 2007, we were working very hard with all our partner agencies to get things done and organised. Our main partners in crime / grime were the Community Police from Baird Street. Firstly, Sergeant Gwen McEwan kick-started the entire process by asking Spire View to become involved in the Neighbourhood Reassurance Pilot Project. Of course, we were only too happy to oblige and become involved in anything that would be to the benefit of Spire View and our residents.
What happened on the day?
It was a dark and cloudy morning and we were getting a bit concerned that the day might be a wash out. After lots of worried frowns and prayers, the sunshine put in an appearance and our fears and worries disappeared. The marquee was set up in the office car park, our volunteers arrived and took up their positions, the DJ set up his decks and we were ready to go for it. The Clean Glasgow (ECAT team) arrived with a huge supply of litter pickers and high visibility jackets. Thankfully, 100 or so other people turned up to pick up the litter. We had 6 teams; the windy wipers, the spire view sweepers, the dusty bins, the wacky wipers, the busy brushers and the mighty mops!!! Every one got in position, ready to go and they were off and the rest, as they say, is history!
After about an hour of hard graft, our litter picker uppers returned to base with their bags of rubbish, which they exchanged for a raffle ticket, qualifying them for entry into our fantastic prize draw. Prizes included MP3 players, Tesco vouchers, M & S Vouchers, Sweeties and Dulux Dogs (not real ones of course).
As well as all this excitement, there was lots more fun to be had inside the marquee. We had face painting, badge making, competitions, refreshments, music and lots and lots of goodies to be given away.
As the day drew to a close……
At the end of what turned out to be a very busy, successful, rewarding and exhausting day, we received excellent feedback from our tenants and residents. It was apparent from peoples faces that they had a fantastic time and felt a fantastic sense of achievement. We were already being asked when the next event would take place? Watch this space……………