A big thank you from the organisers of the open gardens event, the parish council and EHDC to everyone who turned out for the litter collection event ahead of the open gardens, next weekend.

There were around 25-30 people involved ranging from local children through to a number of older members of the community. The initial team at 10:00 is shown below.

The group split into two teams and went in different directions from the recreational ground to cover the village.

Within two hours, we had collected a staggering 10 full bags of rubbish from around the village including some strange finds such as a car battery, a dustbin lid and even a large air filter from a lorry or similar. On a couple of occasions, we found complete shopping bags full of rubbish, dumped just in the bushes (buiders beware - now we know your tricks !!).

We covered the following area, all starting at the recreational ground

• The recreational ground
• The Village centre
• The Gosport road down to the lay-by on the A32.
• The path to the Church
• The Village Hall car park
• The edge of the village by the A32 roundabout
• Wolf's Lane to the B3006 junction
• The Winchester Road, to the roundabouts at Alton

Here's what we collected ! - It looks bigger in real life !

Our thanks go to EHDC for their support by providing a number of telescopic grabbers or 'Litter Picker' which made things a lot easier (and more hygenic),

We also had a lot of support from other village residents and visitors who thought our initiative was a good idea and supported our efforts.

With today's success, we expect to have two such events per year, one on the summer and one in the winter, when all the vegitation has died back and the rubbish is easier to see. Dates will be shown in the village calendar.