Council supports children with litter action at Sutton Manor Primary School
Children at Sutton Manor Primary School are taking extra care of their neighbourhood with the support of St Helens Borough Council.
Article date: 23 January 2026
Year 6 pupils recently wrote to the Leader of the Council about litter around the school and the harm it does to the environment and community pride.
In his letter to the council, Year 6 pupil Rowan, said: "To all our fellow community, we need to show pride and responsibility to our area by throwing litter in the bin, not on the pavement!"
In Year 6 pupil Athisha's letter, she noted: "By putting a bin on Forest Road it could easily reduce the amount of litter in a blink of an eye. Wouldn't you like a neat and enjoyable environment?"
In response, staff from the council's environment and climate team met with the class to hear their ideas for improvement. They also picked locations that they would like to see a litter bin near to their school, with two now being provided by the council.
Pupils also produced posters on the negative impact of littering which are now proudly displayed on the school gates.
And the council's new environmental action team have carried out a targeted litter pick around the school.
A further visit to the school was made by Leader of the Council Councillor Anthony Burns and Councillor Tracy Dickinson, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services.
Cllr Dickinson said:
"It was great to hear from Sutton Manor Primary pupils and to see how passionate they are about looking after their neighbourhood and the environment. We were pleased to be able to support their activism and provide two new litter bins close to the school.
"Littering is a crime and those who do it purposefully have no respect. It drags down streets and green spaces and costs taxpayers' money to clean up. Together with the children of Sutton Manor Primary, we're saying that there's no excuse for it anywhere in our borough.
"This year we've formed a new Environmental Action Team - as part of £200,000 investment into keeping St Helens borough clean and tidy. The team are out and about across the borough every week carrying out litter picking, pruning shrubs and more. We've also invested in new litter bins around the borough and in our fly tipping enforcement capacity."
Love where you live? Why not get involved in a litter pick near you or join the nation's biggest litter pick and pledge a bag of litter in Keep Britain Tidy's Great British Spring Clean, which opens on Friday 13 February.
Learn more at www.keepbritaintidy.org/great-british-spring-clean.
Litter can be reported to the council at www.sthelens.gov.uk/report-it