YOUNG and old turned out to take part in one of Bude Rubbish Action Group’s biggest clean-ups yet.

Taking place on Saturday, February 16, the team behind Bude Rubbish Action Group (BRAG) joined with the mayor of Bude, Bob Willingham, Cornwall Councillor for Bude, Peter La Broy and a flock of members of the public, to tackle the fly-tipped furniture and rubbish left in the woods by Bude Rugby Club.

Before the big clean-up, BRAG called on people from across the area to get involved and help make the location what it once was — a natural woodland area.

Founder of BRAG, Paul Crum, told the Post: “Well, where do I start? Probably at the beginning would be best — about a month ago I was contacted by a resident of Swallow Close about the disgusting amount of fly-tipping in the wooded area at the side of Bude Rugby Club. Eunice Hook then went and did a litter pick and told me how bad it was.”

A litter pick for BRAG was arranged a week later, which was attended by Paul, Sally Bickle, Binzy Reynolds and Eunice.

“When I got there I was totally gobsmacked at the state of it. Straight away I called Peter La Broy, our town and Cornwall Councillor, who came down in minutes. Our pick that day was ten bags of litter — no way could we remove all the furniture on our own.”

A couple of days later, Cllr La Broy contacted Paul about how the furniture could be removed. BRAG is followed by numerous groups and organisations, such as the Post, BBC Radio Cornwall, Keep Britain Tidy, Clean Cornwall and Biffa.

‘Out of the blue’, Paul was contacted by Radio Cornwall and asked to give a radio interview about the situation.

He was joined by Cllr La Broy and the town mayor, Cllr Willingham, to have their say about the problem area.

“Their input was amazing — Peter and Bob have backed BRAG from day one,” Paul continued.

On the morning of the big clean-up, arranged for February 16, Paul said he was both nervous and anticipant of the day ahead. “I got to the rugby club at 8am, very nervous about our pick. I walked to the site, looked at it and saw the damage that people had done to a little wooded area. I must admit I had a tear in my eye, thinking if we could clean it up, it would make a difference to our wildlife and our social wellbeing.

“It was great to hear the birds chirping, and also to see the plants sprouting out of the ground, having a couple of days of spring-like weather.

“Then it happened — one by one, 28 lovely people arrived to help make the site look how it should look. I have never seen more dedicated people being so eager to do what they did that morning. I met people who I have never seen before who are passionate about Bude and Stratton.”

Paul added: “I have to thank one person who made this happen — Eunice Hook, you are the star of the day. To all who attended, thank you so much, and to Bude Rugby Club for all of their support in bringing a Land Rover and trailer.”

Approximately 1,200kg was collected in one hour. To find out more about BRAG, visit their Facebook page.