Captain Tom 100 Challenge: South Tyneside litter-pickers aim to fill 100 bags of rubbish in marathon clean-up honouring hero

Litter-pickers are honouring Captain Tom with a marathon clean-up in South Tyneside.
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The pick is part of the national Captain Tom 100 Challenge initiative taking place over the bank holiday weekend. The idea is to tackle any challenge as long as it involves the number 100.

This is in tribute to Captain Tom Moore who famously completed 100 laps of his garden for charity in 2020. The great man died in February aged 100 and April 30 is his birthday.

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On Saturday, May 1 the South Tyneside Litter Pick Groups will do their stuff.

Debbie Upperton will be taking part in the Captain Tom bank holiday litter picking challenge.Debbie Upperton will be taking part in the Captain Tom bank holiday litter picking challenge.
Debbie Upperton will be taking part in the Captain Tom bank holiday litter picking challenge.

This sees the joining of the Riverside Litter Bugz plus the Hebburn, Jarrow and Carr-Ellison Park groups teaming up, with volunteers of all ages taking part – and you’re welcome to join in.

One team will meet outside Hawthorn Court Care Home on St Aloysius View, Hebburn at 9.15am; the other at St Bede’s Well on Adair Way in Hebburn at 10am.

Shirley Gardiner is a member of the Carr Ellison Park team and looking forward to the challenge.

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She said: “I think there’ll be quite a few there. All the groups have come together through lockdown, but when we saw this we said ‘We’ve got to do something’. This is a special thing and everybody’s all for it.

The South Tyneside Litter Picking Groups are taking up the Captain Tom 100 Challenge.The South Tyneside Litter Picking Groups are taking up the Captain Tom 100 Challenge.
The South Tyneside Litter Picking Groups are taking up the Captain Tom 100 Challenge.

“They’re all set and all wanting to do things for their areas. It’s brought us all closer together and it’ll be a great community effort.”

It comes after the Jarrow Litter Pickers launched a fundraising drive so they can up their game and make the town even cleaner.

The team was founded in April 2020, not long after the first national lockdown began, and now has 160 members, with around 100 joining since the start of 2021.

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Everyone can also help by simply not dropping litter in the first place.

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