USW students and staff join Spring Clean Cymru event

Students and staff at the University of South Wales (USW) were the first at a university in Wales to take part in a Spring Clean Cymru clean-up event, organised by the Civic Engagement Scheme in partnership with Keep Wales Tidy.

On March 30, the team from USW carried out the Keep Wales Tidy litter pick in and around the University’s Treforest Campus. Having pledged to collect five bags of litter, the team got together a total of nine bags of rubbish.

As well as helping to protect the local environment, the litter picking event provided an opportunity for university students to make friends and enjoy being out in nature.

Ajay Ajith, a BSc Pharmaceutical Science student at USW, said “It's been a really good experience. We managed to collect a considerable amount of litter on our way. I encourage other people to take part and I'll definitely do it again the next time I get the opportunity."

Glesni Ayres, Civic Engagement Officer at University of South Wales, said: “As part of our Civic Engagement Scheme within the University of South Wales, we encourage our students to make a difference by volunteering and giving back to the local community.

“We organised a litter pick as part of Spring Clean Cymru with the support of Keep Wales Tidy. It was great to see so many students support the event, getting involved in the clean-up, making new friends and exploring their local area."

Huw Andrews, USW Civic Engagement Officer, added: “It was amazing to see so many students taking time out of their studies, even with assessments coming up, to help to tidy up their local area.

“I really enjoyed getting to know some of them more, especially seeing them making new friends while giving something back. They were really enthusiastic, despite the rain later on, working well together to get to hard-to-reach places. It was a very rewarding experience and I felt really proud of the students and the scheme.”

More than 300 clean-up events have been registered for the campaign and are taking place across Wales between March 25 and April 10. Keep Wales Tidy called on individuals, households, and schools to clean-up the streets, parks, or beaches on their doorstep.

Spring Clean Cymru, which is part of Caru Cymru, is the biggest ever initiative to eradicate litter and waste.

Caru Cymru has received funding through the Welsh Government Rural Communities - Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government.

Spring Clean Cymru is also part of this year’s Great British Spring Clean. Volunteers are being asked to pledge how many bags they will collect and how many minutes they will spend cleaning up their local area.

It’s not too late to pledge or get involved with an organised event through the Keep Wales Tidy website at https://keepwalestidy.cymru/caru-cymru/spring-clean-cymru-2022

USW offers more than 100 other volunteering opportunities in the South Wales area as part of the Civic Engagement Scheme, which is a partnership with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. More can be found at BE PART OF THE LOCAL COMMUNITY | University of South Wales