a bit of a rubbish week

Sorry for the gap, I was away with my grandchildren and then a computer problem.

So, the rubbish week started in Troutsdale, an apparently lovely and peaceful dale on the eastern side of the National Park www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/, I was doing a Voluntary Ranger patrol. However it didn't take long to start to see the rubbish. In the small car park and around it, I collected half a bag, mostly from a well know burger place. I walked through some mixed forest to the top of the escarpment, the remains of several bonfires, bottles, cans and take away BBQs made another bag. Then the worst, back down through another part of the forest to this:-

it had obviously been there for some time and the people would have needed a car to get it there. There are  two free Council sites to take it to within a 20 minute drive, so why dump it here? I discover that it has been reported before and that the police have been asked to take action, but it is still there! I am obviously not going to clear these bags.


The next day I was at Farndale, no rubbish here, but sadly still no daffodils; but there is a weather change in the air, although not very obvious to me and my colleagues. So perhaps in a week or so........................

Wednesday I missed Coasties to help my friend in Leeds move from her accommodation as an asylum seeker to new accommodation as a homeless person with the right to live here. It really doesn't make any sense, she has had to move from one publicly funded property to another, different budget heads, but still our taxes. I am very happy for my taxes to help her have a decent home, but not to support the pointlessness of this move. I take the small stuff and a lovely man with a van takes the bigger things that she has either collected from various dumps, cleaned up and put to good use, or things that people have given her. She is currently in a semi furnished flat, but soon she will have to move again, don't ask, this time to unfurnished accommodation, so nothing can be thrown away or left behind. We are all happy to help and overjoyed that she has permission to stay, but what a rubbish day, wasting fuel and time when we could all be doing so much better things.

I talk to people at LASSN lassn.org.uk (Leeds Asylum Seekers Support Network) and Solace www.solace-uk.org.uk, who help with advocacy and counselling, about what to do if there is a gap in her financial support. We agree that I should contact the Trussell Trust www.trusselltrust.org, who run the food bank in central Leeds. They are very kind and tell me what to do to help my friend get a food parcel if it becomes necessary. So far she has been OK, as she is very careful about her food purchases and nothing ever goes to waste.

The week ends on a happier note. I help to clear away overgrown areas of the Castle Gardens in Malton, www.maltoncastlegarden.org.uk, this is a lovely area in the middle of the town. You may find the website a little out of date; this is because as with so many other local and voluntary organisations the people involved all have busy lives. So if you want to help bring it up to speed you can, by offering your time and your skills. Here are some new shrubs and a tree waiting to be planted.

So a mixed week, but by the end spring has finally arrived and the frogs in our pond are doing their bit for the future of the planet. We do our own local scavenging and have two meals using wild garlic as the vegetable.