As a business we decided to sign up to the Pledge 1% scheme, with the aim of doing our bit for the local community. We pledge 1% of the business’s profits to many local charities such as Loros, Guide Dogs and The Laura Centre. As a member of the WKM team, 1% of our product and 1% of our time is also contributed to good causes. From giving blood, to litter picking, we get to choose what we do to help in whatever way.

We decided to do some litter picking around the lake next to the office and a nearby dual carriageway, and it comes as no shock, that there is a lot of rubbish! We were equipped with rubber gloves, litter pickers (in a range of sizes) and so we were not messing about. Of course, we picked the hottest day of the year so far to do it, and so we were roasting, but we carried on and felt a sense of achievement once we finished.

Everyone knows the problem we have with rubbish, but you don’t realise how popular littering is until you go outside and have it as the focal point to clean it up. There was significantly less around the pathway surrounding the lake than on the side of the dual carriageway. People on the move i.e. in cars, are more likely to litter due to not being bothered to wait and find a bin. Not hard right? Litter around beauty spots such as the lake next to our office affects it by degrading natural areas and could kill plants/animals.

Take a read of these stats:

• Litter costs almost £1 billion a year in clean up bills in the UK.
• 30 million tonnes of litter are collected from our streets every year (enough to fill four Wembley stadiums!).
• 99% of streets in town centres have cigarette litter.

We feel good that we have helped and done our bit, and we will continue to do so in many ways. Maybe this could be a reminder to anybody reading this, to put some time in your diary to help the local community in anyway, you will feel a lot better for it. Thanks for reading.