I did my patchwork in S3, Sheffield, which included Kelham Island, Broomhall, Burngreave, Neepsend and Netherthorpe.
Eighty-one volunteers collected three truckloads of rubbish from the River Don to fight against pollution in Sheffield.
On Saturday, people gathered in Kelham Island for the Great Sheffield River Clean-up as part of “Riverlution”, a month of events to celebrate the River Stewardship Company’s 10-year anniversary.
Jane Campbell, 40, Activism Lead for Sheffield Adventure Film Festival, came up with the idea for the River Clean-up and added: “The main goal of this event is to empower and inspire people to take a stand for the planet.”
Not only was a large amount of single-use plastic found, but also larger items like a shopping trolley, a bicycle, a kitchen sink, a hoover, a lawn mower, a computer, and car bumpers.
The River Don used to be full of rubbish in the 1980s, it was bright yellow, chemically dead and had nothing living in it, according to Sally Hyslop, 26, Engagement Officer for Don Catchment Rivers Trust Community.
She added: “So, the fact that we got to where we are today is amazing due to organisations coming down and helping clean it up.”
Magid Magid, 29, Lord Mayor of Sheffield, stated: “The community in Kelham is a great example of what can happen when great people get together and try to tackle an issue they are passionate about. The fact that people spent their free time at the weekend cleaning the river is amazing.”
Kelham Island and Neepsend Community Alliance was one of the organisations who helped coming up with this event, alongside Sheffield City Kayak Club, and Sheffield Hallam University Canoe Club.
Georgiana Bacon, 20, Chairperson of Sheffield Hallam Canoe Club said: “The actions of two or three kayakers affect the whole community and gives us a bad reputation so coming today to clean the river shows that we are trying to be proactive about the problem.”
Tasks for the day included litter and debris removal from the bank as well as by boat and kayak, bug hotel making, planting, cutting back vegetation, and removing large debris from the channel.
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A corner store in Kelham Island was broken into last night and the owner’s laptop was stolen.
On April 26, Bow & Lace, a dress designing and clothing alterations corner shop, was broken into between 10.30pm and 10am of the following day.
When Amie Siriphong, 43, the shop’s owner, arrived at the shop in the morning, she found the glass door of the store smashed and her laptop missing.
Amie said: “I do not really care about the value of my laptop, but I have my personal things in it and I am worried that whoever stole it might crack the pin and go through them.”
She added that it was a relief that none of her client’s dresses were stolen.
Bow & Lace is a small business started up by Amie. She opened other stores in the UK in the past but decided to move to Kelham Island because she thought it was a safe area.
She said: “I feel violated. This is my business, this is what I worked hard for and to anybody to help themselves to come in here, cause damage and rummage through things that are not theirs is just frustrating and upsetting.”
There are no details about the burglars at the moment, but South Yorkshire Police is checking local CCTV cameras and looking for any witnesses who may be able to assist in identifying a suspect.
Neil Wickstone, the officer allocated to the incident, said: “Burglary has a severe detrimental effect on victims and a community and all reasonable lines of enquiry should be pursued to bring an offender to justice.”
Kelham Island and Neepsend Community Group is also helping to find the culprit and making people aware of this incident by sharing this on Facebook.
The owner of the shop is now appealing to people to contact 01144534896 if they have any further details on the robbers.
