Falmouth volunteers help clean-up the town

With 14 different locations, more than 130 volunteers and over 15 organisations involved, the initiative saw a record number of cleaning sites tackled by COVID compliant volunteer groups.

Volunteer Jake planting new succulent bed on Cliff Road

Coordinated by the Falmouth BID and Falmouth Town Council, the town’s businesses, community organisations and residents came together between April 24 and May 5 for a good old Spring clean.

Beach, signage and shopfront cleans, litter picks, graffiti removal, and green space revamps all took place, in what has been described as another good example of the strength of the town’s community spirit.

Volunteers and Garden Team with finished bed 2

The cleans would usually fall under the umbrella of the Spring Festival, which is coordinated by the Falmouth BID and sponsored by the University of Exeter. However, due to COVID, the event could not go ahead, so instead a focus on the volunteer-led cleans took place.

Dracaena Centre Shop Front Cleaning

Emma Webster who works for the Town Team and coordinated the activity on behalf of the BID and Town Council said: “It was a delight to see so many people coming together and getting stuck in on the variety of litter-picks and garden projects.

The strength of community support was overwhelming, and I would like to thank all the volunteers for giving up their time to support this venture."

For anyone wanting to get involved in future schemes, you can sign up via lovefalmouthvolunteers.volunteermakers.org

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Falmouth BID and Town Council thanked the many organisations and businesses who engaged including - University of Exeter, Cormac, Falmouth Civic Society, Plastic Free Falmouth, Falmouth University, The Dracaena Centre, Falmouth Bay Residents Association, Chelsea House, Passmore Cleaning, Pendennis Castle, Friends of Greenbank Gardens, Falmouth Vineyard, New Street Church, Hello Student and Biffa for organising additional waste disposal collections from each location.

Princess Pavilion Garden project

Falmouth Town Council and Cormac’s gardening and maintenance teams provided additional support to activate a series of green space revamp projects.

These included a mass weeding and clean-up at The Greenbank Gardens, a woodland clear-up at Trescobeas, a gardening project at Princess Pavilion and a re-planting effort that has elevated a tired section along Cliff Road.

Plastic Free Falmouth also had an excellent turnout at their beach cleans, using their brand new magnetic litter pickers. Their litter picks will continue to scour the beaches throughout the year.

Other volunteer clean areas as part of the BID-managed project included Kimberley Park, Killigrew Street, Falmouth’s retail areas, Pendennis Point, Trescobeas Woods and playing fields, the terraces, Lambs Lane and Woodlane.

The volunteer cleans are part of a wider initiative – the Big Spring Clean – which will see the Town Team installing new planters and cross street colourful displays in the town centre, power washing and gutter cleaning. This is in addition to the thousands of meters of bunting, cross street flags, hanging baskets and other display assets coordinated each year.

For further information and to see up-to-date activities in Falmouth, visit the town’s official website at www.falmouth.co.uk/