GLASGOW schoolkids are Streets Ahead!

More than 60 young pupils staged a mass clean up on the city’s south side before enjoying a tour of Hampden Stadium and the Scottish Football Museum.

Children from six schools took part in the litter-pick organised by our campaign partner Glasgow City Council's Environmental Task Force.

Teachers and pupils from Battlefield, Mount Florida, Blackfriars, Kings Park and Croftfoot primaries and Holyrood Secondary School all joined in the popular event, which is now in its third year.

On the road to Hampden, the pupils collected around 70 large bin bags of rubbish which had been dropped on the streets and in green spaces.

Eddie MacDonald, 11, from Battlefield, was thrilled to visit the national stadium but said he was shocked by the amount of litter people drop.

He said: “It’s just laziness when people drop litter. They could easy take it home instead of dropping it in the street. It was quite interesting to see the kind of things that people drop though. I found batteries, glass bottles and big cans of juice – some of them were still full. Our litter bag was heavy when we’d finished.

“I’m excited about seeing the stadium and football museum because I’ve never been to Hampden before.”

Fellow Battlefield pupil Ethan Shand, 10, said he was happy to do his bit to keep the local area clean.

He said: “It makes us feel nice and helpful to do a litter pick. It’s not good to drop rubbish though, because other people have to clean it up. We found a big fence with tons of rubbish behind it but two metres away there was a bin.”

After their tour of the stadium and the football museum, the pupils enjoyed lunch donated by local businesses, including McDonalds, Greggs, Tesco and Warburton’s.

Elaine Sheerin of Glasgow’s Environmental Task Force organised the event.

She said: “The young people have all been great. They got plenty of exercise on the walk to the stadium and learned about the environment and their communities as well as the importance of disposing of litter responsibly. They collected loads of rubbish. I was really impressed by their hard work – especially as the weather was so warm!"

The Streets Ahead campaign, supported by Glasgow City Council, City Building, City Charitable Trust and Scottish Fire and Rescue, is now in its sixth year. Its annual awards ceremony takes place in June.

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