In the early months of each year, when the vegetation has died back and before birds and other wildlife start to nest and breed, FrANC members undertake several systematic litter picks and maintenance of the New Cut riverbanks.
With between 20 and 30 FrANC members taking part in each two hour session, a lot of rubbish and other debris is collected. As a reward for their hard work, volunteers then usually visit a local café for coffee and cake, paid for by FrANC. See the Gallery page for some more images of FrANC’s fantastic group of volunteers during some of our sessions, including a few ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures.
Additional ‘light’ litter picks are undertaken as needed throughout the year where the vegetation is not disturbed.
If you would like to take part, check the What’s On section of our home page to find out when they’re scheduled, send an email to contact@franc.org.uk or join FrANC by subscribing to our mailing list so you’ll be kept up to date.
Bristol City Council (BCC) supports our litter picks; they have supplied some of the litter pickers used and provide the bags as well as removing the small mountain of full rubbish bags and collected debris the following day.
BCC also undertakes some scheduled tree and vegetation maintenance which FrANC may comment on or advise of work needed, particularly where wildlife or their habitats may be adversely affected.
A grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awarded to FrANC in 2015 enabled us to undertake a major clean-up of a section of the New Cut which until then had not been cleared. The south bank of the New Cut between Bedminster and Bath Road bridges is steep and heavily covered with brambles, trees and shrubs. It had been neglected for decades and in addition to the usual accumulation of rubbish, there were large items of household furniture and equipment.
The HLF grant provided the funding for the professional removal of major items of rubbish and for a significant cut back of some vegetation. FrANC members then put in over 200 volunteer hours to tackle the vast amount of general accumulated discarded waste.
Some local businesses along this section of the New Cut supported the work with contributions in cash and kind, and by the summer of 2016 the area was much improved.
This particular section of the New Cut is now part of our annual litter pick rota.