Railway stations across the North of England are looking a lot cleaner to thanks to teams of volunteers who gave their time to clear their local stations of litter during the Great British Spring Clean from 15 to 31 March.

Among the stations benefitting from their efforts were those operated Northern, at Batley, Beverley, Blaydon, Church and Oswaldtwistle, Hartlepool, Hebden Bridge, Riding Mill and Seaton Carew.

Dozens of bin bags were filled with litter during the clean-up, which was part of an annual event organised by Keep Britain Tidy that encourages people across the country to clean up their local communities.

At Beverley in East Yorkshire, twelve volunteers from Friends of Beverley Station filled bin bags with discarded coffee cups, sandwich wrappers, and cigarette butts during an intensive two-and-a-half hours clearing the station of litter.

Besides their litter picking, the Friends of Beverley Station maintains trees and flowers in a picturesque area outside the station and currently creating a wildlife area.

Nine bags of rubbish were filled in just over two hours by nine volunteers from Friends of Hebden Bridge Station, filling them with dog mess, beer cans, and fast-food containers.

As well as regularly litter picking around the station, the Friends tend to gardens and keep them planted with a colourful array of flowers.

Working over four hours in heavy rain, eight volunteers from Friends of Batley Station in West Yorkshire filled an amazing 33 bags of rubbish with everything from empty bottles and dirty nappies to hub caps and even an old Christmas tree stand.

Last year, the group was a runner-up in the Outstanding Organisers category at the Great British Spring Clean Awards.

Fly tipping is often a problem at many stations, and it is thanks to volunteers such as these that unwanted litter is often cleared away.

There are only around a dozen of us who work on a regular basis, so we re a small band of volunteers but we’re all very committed.

We just want to make sure people get a really good impression when they arrive by train in Beverley and it’s great to have funding from Northern to allow us to do what we do.

Sue Dyer, co-ordinator of the Friends of Beverley Station

The station at Hebden Bridge is spectacular and we want to keep it that way.
We want it to look nice and we get a lot of comments from passengers who come through, especially during the summer months.

Martin Whittell, Chairman of Friends of Hebden Bridge

The station is a gateway into Batley. We have people coming from all over, so it s important they arrive at a nice, tidy, colourful and friendly station.

We’re a lovely group. We’re only small, but we’re like a family and everyone’s got different strengths.

Gwen Lowe, Chair of Friends of Batley Station

We re grateful to these volunteers who work so hard to keep our stations clean and tidy and hope customers appreciate their efforts.

I hope those that have dropped litter in the past will use the bins provided in the future.

We work with hundreds of adoption groups, across our network, who take pride in ensuring their local stations are pleasant and welcoming places to visit.

Kerry Peters, regional director for Northern