The National Spring Clean is a great way to re-engage with the public. After the Winter, we find it is a perfect start to welcome back our members and to promote our work.
Clonmel Tidy Towns once again took part in the National Spring Clean Day. We were delighted to receive our pack from An Taisce. We choose Mulcahey Park as our centre as it gives us access to approach roads, parkland, public spaces in the guise of St. Patrick's Cemetery, housing estates and the by-pass. We advertised across all social media and invited the public to join us. As always, we were delighted with the turnout but disappointed with the amount of rubbish collected.
As in 2021, Spring Clean 2022 stretched over the month of April.. We chose 4 areas and invited the public to join us on the Saturday morning in the area closest to them. We also engaged with Boston Scientific and were delighted to welcome members of their staff who joined us.
The month-long Spring Clean can take quite a bit of organising but results speak for themselves. Twice we were approached by locals who enquired about our work and have since joined us. By taking a different side of town each week we ensure there is high visibility for the group which helps to promote the work we do.
While we have had to do things a little differently, we have managed to partake in the National Spring Clean in both 2020 and 2021. In 2020, Tesco allowed us to gather in their carpark so that social distancing could be adhered to. We also gave people slots to arrive so that there was never a crowd. The day went off really well and the feedback was very positive. For the first time ever, we had children arrive and our new children‘s high viz proved very popular.
In 2021, we again had to do things a little differently but we took that opportunity to reach out to different areas in town. Over 5 weeks we hit the south at the Old Bridge, west, gathering at St Stephen’s cemetery, east at Mulcahy park, north at the train station and finally at our hub in the town center. This allowed us to ensure that numbers were kept to a minimum with members engaging in the Spring Clean in their own areas for the most part. Gloves, masks, and disinfectant were provided for all participants. It was actually quite successful and provided us with an opportunity to target residents in particular areas and encourage them to join us by clean around their own homes.
