Communities across the region are cleaner and greener thanks to an environmental week of action by a leading Dumfries and Galloway social landlord.
Staff from Wheatley Homes South, part of Wheatley Group, arranged a series of events across the region from Monday 20 March to Friday 24 March.
Wheatley’s Neighbourhood Environmental Teams (NETs) were joined by community groups, school pupils and volunteers for environmental-based activities, including upcycling and recycling initiatives, tackling fly tipping, litter pick-up and creating community garden spaces.
A bulk uplift amnesty at the start of the week resulted in 16.8 tonnes of waste being collected by NETs, with a large proportion of it being recycled by Dumfries and Galloway’s Civic Recycling Department.
Tuesday’s community litter picks saw children from the North West Community Campus in Lochside, Elmvale Primary in Annan as well as Belmont and Park Primary schools in Stranraer join Wheatley staff and other volunteers in a series of community litter picks.
On Wednesday, NETs gardeners planted flowers and provided gardening advice to elderly residents living within Wheatley’s sheltered accommodation services in Dumfries, Castle Douglas, Kirkcudbright and Moffat.
Thursday saw staff build a sensory garden at Belmont Primary in Stranraer, work on a community garden project in Lochside and carry out work on Johnstonebridge Primary School. The week of action rounded off with tree-planting sessions at Belmont and Park Primary schools in Stranraer, as well as the community recycling shops in Stranraer and Lochside.
Wheatley Homes South’s NETs service was launched in Dumfries and Galloway in July 2021. It was part of the commitment made to tenants when they voted to became part of Wheatley Group, Scotland’s leading housing, care and property-management group.
Alan Glasgow, Managing Director of Wheatley Homes South, said:
“We are very proud of the work undertaken by our NETs service and other Wheatley staff all week in Dumfries and Galloway.
“Our teams deliver a range of activities across the region. The Week of Action was about showcasing the work carried out by our NETs staff and it was great to see customers, school pupils and other volunteers get involved.
“Since we launched the NETs service in Dumfries and Galloway, the response from our customers has been overwhelmingly positive and has demonstrated the difference this work is making day in, day out in communities the length and breadth of the region.”
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