Volunteer Centre Western Isles organised a community litter pick in partnership with the North Harris Trust on Wednesday 10 April. The event was an opportunity to
fundraise for Tarbert in Bloom, the group which has been leading the way to get Tarbert cleaned up in time for Spring.
Despite the dreich weather, 12 adults and 13 children took part. Volunteers collected 26 bags of rub-bish and three piles of bigger items were removed! Kathleen Duce, the Harris-based Volunteer Centre Development Worker, said: “I, along with other local organisations, have been working alongside the newly formed Tarbert in Bloom group, who are very keen to bring the village back up to the standard it used to be at some years ago. This is a mammoth task, as due to financial cuts in various large organisations over the years.
“Two local ladies have taken it upon themselves to get this sorted. They recently engaged a local company to come along and start the initial
grass cutting. Their hope is that after this year and its initial clean-up, next year can be built upon and we shall have so many more pots & baskets of flowers and other great projects all-round the village. They will be looking for more vol-unteers in the future to join them and help in their plans for the village.”
With Volunteer Week soon approaching in June, Kathleen praised the efforts of local people to keep the community thriving: “we are very proud of our island home. This sense of pride does make things, like our community clean up, very well supported. We have been offered help from local businesses & individuals and the local Community Centre committee have allowed us the use of the hall for free during the time of the event. I would like to thank every volunteer who came out, on such a dreich day, to help with the litter pick. You made a huge difference!”
- To find out more about volunteer-ing opportunities in Harris, contact harris@volunteercentre.org.