We LOVE Altrincham but it has litter and graffiti problems and some of our green spaces have been in need of a revamp for many years.

That's why for the last 6 years, our volunteers have been contributing to their community by cleaning up the town - doing litter picks, cleaning signs and removing graffiti. We have cleared almost 1,800 bags of rubbish - 3 times the height of Manchester's Beetham Tower. We make good use of our equipment by also lending it out for litter picks in residential areas and facilitating litter picks for youth groups to help teach children about responsibility. We are always scrabbling around for funds to cover our running costs and need to raise enough to cover the coming 12 months or will have to relinquish our rented storage facility and get rid of our equipment.

On the green side of things, we sponsor and coordinate the gold-award winning 'Altrincham In Bloom' project which is held up by RHS Britain In Bloom North West as a beacon of community collaboration and has received several other special awards. The project continues to expand as we transform locations in and around the town, turning them from neglected spaces into attractive green places which people can enjoy. Current projects include: the glorious Four Seasons Walkway (weed-covered space transformed into attractive/colourful garden walkway); Shaw's Green (neglected green space transformed into 'Food For Thought' project, used to teach children about growing and eating homegrown food); Barrington Green (neglected overgrown corner on edge of the town which we're working on with local residents to create a colourful perennial planting scheme); Our award-winning Town Centre Planters (we coordinate the planting of 22 wooden town centre planters, each one looked after by a different community group or business); a new project we hope to start soon on Lloyd St; and the 'Green Gateway' project which has just completed Phase 1.