I spent a great morning at Blackhall Rocks picking up litter with young people on the estate as part of a community clean-up event organised by Lynn Murphy, Wendy Byatt and others from the Residents Association.
While we were doing the rounds with staff from Morrison's and East Durham Homes we had the opportunity to spot other environmental issues on the estate and report them to the relevant agencies for attention.
I would like to see events like this become a regular fixture because they instil a sense of belonging and community pride in young people and older residents alike. Working together to make the streets safer and cleaner also bridges any generational divide whilst benefiting the environment.
Although we had to be up and about quite early we were handsomely rewarded for our efforts by the fleeting appearance of Councillor Cox who, long before the work began, honoured us with his presence and posed for photographs in a flash suit and tie before sloping off on some other (unidentified) worthy venture. Priceless!
