The Friends of Peel Park community group have taken on the role of keeping the Peel Park clean through volunteer-led litter picks.
Peel Park has proved to be essential for Salford residents in everyday life but most notably during the lockdown. Now that life is returning to normal, and people are out and about and this means that litter and rubbish are becoming more of a problem as the lockdown is eased.
David Marsden is the secretary of the Friends of Peel Park community organisation. Mr Marsden is responsible for organising events such as the Peel Park litter picks, he talked about why he got involved in cleaning up and looking after Peel Park.
He said: “It’s my local park I don’t have a back garden or anything I live in a flat. I look at this as my back garden and wanted to get involved n it and do as much as I could to help in the park.” He talked about the benefits of looking after the green space on his mental health.
He added: “I been forced into a position where I work from home now, so I have to get out and this gives me more reason to get out and get involved and gives me apart from my normal work focus it gives me something else to concentrate on.”
Mr Marsden says litter picks and other events was a great way to meet new people from the surrounding area.
He said: “We get a very transient selection of helpers.”
One of the volunteers, Salwa Saad, said she meets new people at every activity.
When asked about whether it was difficult to keep the park clean with a significant student presence nearby Mr Marsden said: “It is, it can get frustrating some days especially when the weather has been nice because it brings a lot more people.”
He concluded that there was an “immense amount of satisfaction to see the park look as good as it does.”
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