7th Middlewich Community Bulb Planting

Middlewich Clean Team were pleased to be involved in this event on 25th October 2009

The 7th Middlewich Community bulb planting took place on 25th October 2009. It was a huge success, thirty people came along to help plant thousands of crocus in St. Michael's Church grounds and then had well earned refreshments at the Boars Head. It was a lovely occasion and the results of our hard work will be a splendid display for all our community to enjoy in the spring." 

Clean Team Members Attend St John Ambulance First Aid Training

6 Members of Middlewich Clean Tean recently gathered for a photo shoot for the Middlewich Guardian following there succesful First Aid training on 16th October 2009.

The photo shows 4 clean team members with the First Aid packs that will now be taken to all future litter picks following training by St John Ambulance at Chester. Clean Team Chairperson Janet Chisholm feels the that those that attended gained confidence in minimising the effects of injuries until professional help arrives. (Photo Nick Jones, Middlewich Guardian)

Hot Wok Evening 25th September 2009

This ticket only event was soon sold out and took place at the Big Lock public house. Diners enjoyed selecting ingredients from a display and the selection was then cooked and brought to the table.

Good food and a cheerful atmosphere meant this was a very successful Middlewich Clean Team fund raising evening as Chairperson Janet Chisholm later commented, "Can I say a big thank you to all who attended the Hot Wok Evening and supported the Middlewich Clean Team on Friday evening. We raised a FANTASTIC £162.00 for our funds and really enjoyed the food and company it was such a happy fun evening. This money will go along way to paying for our insurance cover."

First Middlewich Brownies Tidy Up For The Folk and Boat Festival

We always try to play our part in keeping the town tidy and a good place to be but the forthcoming Folk & Boat Festival meant that we really wanted present the town at it's best. So we a pre-festival tidy up with the help of First Middlewich Brownies was carried out. MCT Chairperson Janet Chisholm commented the next day "Middlewich Clean team joined the First Middlewich Brownies and their leaders making a total of over 30 people litter picking to make sure that Middlewich is clean and tidy for the Folk and Boat Festival. 

It is always a very special annual event in the MCT calendar, a group of us walked through the town and the onto the canal....one gentleman who lives on a narrow boat and makes fudge for a living kindly gave the Brownies fudge to share out. The sun was shinning and everyone was in such good spirits the, children our our future and to see then taking such positive interest in our town is wonderful." 

Summer Planting at St. Michaels and All Angels Church

Community planting is what this event is often referred to and that was certainly the case here. People of all ages from many walks of life came together to help plant the flowers. MCT Chairperson, Janet Chisholm, commented the next day, "Can I just say a huge thank you for all the hard work that you undertook to make the Community Planting such a lovely occasion. I looked around yesterday evening and was overwhelmed. To be part of a group of maybe eighty people of all ages coming together, working, laughing, organising refreshments etc is just wonderful...the results in the summer I am sure will be magnificent.

All Photos: Ian Jones

Charity Walk

The activities of Middlewich Clean Team are often combined with helping out other worthy causes and this was a prime example. We organised a charity walk in aid of St. Lukes Hospice and added in litter picking along the 3 mile route.

Although we picked up two large bin bags of rubbish it was pleasing to find that the Trent & Mersey canal footpath had less litter than anticipated. Perhaps our message is getting through?

To finish off there was a barbecue kindly put on by the Big Lock pub and we were thanked by St.Lukes for our support. Raising money for charity and contributing towards keeping Middlewich tidy has a real feel good factor about it and we are very pleased to have been able to combine these two acactions into one succesful event.

Underpass Clean Up

The following article appeared in the spring/summer issue of JSJD Community Crime Fighters Magazine and demonstrates some of the work that MCT do that sometimes passes unheard about or unnoticed:

"Middlewich Clean Team
Janet Chisholm and Stephen Dent from the Middlewich Clean Team in Cheshire who attended the Community Crime Fighters training in Birmingham had a real success with this in recent weeks. They nominated an underpass to be cleaned but were told it was going to take a long time for the probation service to take action due to broken equipment and other problems. However, Stephen wrote to us saying the probation service listened to the group's concerns and he was pleased to report, "we are getting the work done and even some extra work". Our congratulations go to the Middlewich Clean Team for not giving up and challenging the service."

Naturally we are pleased to have received the recognition but this is all about Community Payback - for those that have done wrong and you now have the opportunity to see this action for yourself. Since 1st December 2008, offenders carrying out community Payback are required to wear orange jackets with "Community Payback" written on the back - this ensures that you can easily see those who have done wrong paying back. Payback often consists of projects like the one above, other examples could be renovating community centres, clearing undergrowth or cleaning off graffiti.

[Dead link to community payback removed during update - Ed]