HRH the Queen on Church Street, Blackburn
Published Wednesday 24 February 2016 at 11:50
COMMUNITY groups and schools across Blackburn with Darwen are brushing up their tidying skills as part of the Clean for the Queen initiative.
The national clean-up day, officially launched by Keep Britain Today in December forms part of the celebrations for the Queen’s 90th birthday.
St Silas and Sacred Heart are among the schools taking part in a litterpick on March 4 while residents in Shadsworth will be taking their bin bags and shovels out round their ward from 10am-2pm. On March 5, around 30 residents are expected around Belmont.
The Friends of Roe Lee Park are keeping up the appearance of the area by tree planting on March 19 and also taking part in a litter pick. To join them, meet at 10am at the pavillion.
To lend a hand to scrub up Romney and Delph, volunteers can meet at Romney Walk from 10am on March 24.
Blackburn with Darwen Council’s environment boss, Councillor Jim Smith said:
It would be great to see as many residents as possible turn out to help clean up our communities. Even if people could only spare half an hour, it would make such a big difference.
Council leader Councillor Mohammed Khan said:
We are rightly proud of our borough but it is important we make the best of it by keeping it clean, so we would appreciate anyone who could spare time to come and help.
Up to one million people are expected to clean up the neighbourhoods on various dates in March ahead of the Queen’s big day on April 21.
Other events are also being planned to help commemorate the Queen’s 90th Birthday.
Railways across the country will be helping to celebrate with a ‘station to station event’. These events are being held on Saturday June 11th to help promote the railways and the role of the Community Rail Partnership, raise money for charity and recognise the important milestone for HRH.
It is also hoped the events will help raise the profile of a number of other more local initiatives such as Blackburn’s Cycle Centre at Witton Park, the borough’s emerging Weavers Wheel scheme, the 200 year anniversary of the Leeds & Liverpool canal in Blackburn, local volunteer groups such as the Young Weavers and the role of British Cycling in the borough/Lancashire.
Events being planned include:
- A led walk from Pleasington station using the Pirates way route along the Leeds & Liverpool canal to Cherry Tree station and then onto Mill Hill station before heading to Blackburn station.
- A led cycle ride from Witton Cycle Centre along the canal passing Cherry Tree station and into Blackburn station
- A led walk from Ramsgreave & Wilpshire station to Blackburn station via four local parks and a cemetery
- Bunting to be placed at East Lancs stations
The intention is for the walks and the cycle ride to converge on Blackburn station at the same time culminating in a grand performance by Blackburn People’s Choir.
An big event is also being planned for Darwen Town Centre.