1 week Ago
A veteran litter-picker is stepping back after a decade of public service cleaning Bolton’s streets. 81 year-old Ian Bury, a founding member of the group Bolton Borough Litter Pickers, is hanging up his picker and hoop after 10 years of voluntarily service. Having co-founded the group in 2015 alongside friend Eileen McKay Crowe, Mr Bury has since attended, and helped to organise, hundreds of litter picks across the borough.
Speaking to the Bolton News, Mr Bury, who turns 82 years old this month said he was proud of what the group had achieved, but that it was the right time for him to finish: “I’ve got too old now to carry mattresses out of rivers.” In a Facebook post announcing his retirement, group admin for the Bolton Borough Litter Pickers , Karen Liptrot, praised Mr Bury for his decade of public service. She wrote: “After 10 years of weekly volunteering, Ian has made the decision to hang up his picker and hoop for good .
We thank him very much for his contribution to our borough over the years.” Discussing why he initially got involved with the project, Mr Bury said: “My role in life has always been to put back into society.” He said that the group, and Mrs McKay Crowe specifically, have been of great support to him since the death of wife 2 years ago: “It’s been a very hard few years.
” Establishing the North Bolton Litter Pickers, a small group focused on litter picking efforts in Edgworth and Bromley Cross, with Mrs McKay Crowe in 2015, Mr Bury said a “relatively clean” Edgworth and a rise in demand for litter picking assistance across the borough caused the group to increase in both volunteers and scope. He said the pair had a clear agenda when they began the group. READ MORE: £400 worth of drugs found during Bolton litter pick Westhoughton: Fly-tipping is out of control say litter-pickers Bolton: Youngest litter picker to collect 100th bag He said: “The ethos when we started was very simple, we hoped areas we cleaned would see a difference.
” The North Bolton Litter Pickers, now renamed Bolton Borough Litter Pickers so as to better reflect the group’s increased scale, has since helped to clean hundreds of streets across the entirety of the borough. Discussing the group’s evolution, Mr Bury said: “Our legacy should be that it continues, and evolves to a state that we don’t need it - but that’s pie in the sky.” Mrs McKay Crowe, who in coming months will be moving out of the borough and passing control to group admin Karen Liptrot, echoed this.
She said: “It needs to grow as a movement.” To celebrate Mr Bury’s service, a “knees-up” took place. To keep costs low, The Morris Dancers pub lent the group a function room for the celebration, free of charge, and additional funding for has been generated from the sale of litter-picked metal.
Volunteers at the Bolton Borough Litter Pickers are now preparing to participate in the Great British Spring Clean. They have pledged to collect 4000 bags of litter for the country-wide scheme, something Mrs McKay Crowe, an ambassador for the project, hopes will raise additional awareness about the group..
