Brotton youngsters clean up

Armed with a fire hose, and assisted by the fire brigade, local youngsters in Brotton did their bit to clean out ‘grot spots’ in the neighbourhood.

The action was part of an exercise led by Coast & Country Housing to give young people the chance to put their ideas for improving the community into action. The organisation worked in partnership with the young people from Safe In Tees Valley, Positive Activities for Young People and Redcar Red Watch crew from Cleveland Fire Brigade.

The youngsters identified that there was a graffiti problem in parts of Brotton and were determined to do something about it. They wrote letters to local residents asking for permission to get rid of the unsightly vandalism by staining fencing and painting garage doors.

The youngsters worked with Coast & Country bricklayers to build brick planters and its estate services staff to plant crocus bulbs to further improve the area. They also arranged a litter pick and the Fire Brigade let the youngsters use fire hoses to help clean up the area.

As a reward for all the young people’s hard work, the fire fighters organised a game of rugby and Coast & Country laid on a barbeque.

Tracy O’Neill, head of regeneration (communities) at Coast & Country, said: “There is so often a negative perception about young people these days, but, as has been demonstrated by these youngsters, this is far from true. These young people are to be commended for highlighting an issue which was having a detrimental impact on people’s environment and coming up with an action plan to overcome it.”