MSP joins children to help tidy towpath
As part of British Waterways Scotland’s Towpath Tidy week, Cathie Craigie MSP for Cumbernauld & Kilsyth will join children from two local schools and Scotland’s leading inland waterways charity, The Waterways Trust Scotland, as they spring clean the towpath alongside Forth & Clyde Canal on Monday 30th March.
25 children aged 9-11 years from Kilsyth Primary School cleared rubbish from along the towpath between Twechar and Auchinstarry. Fifteen children aged 3 – 5 years from Holy Cross Nursery School picked up where the older children left off and gave the footpaths at Auchinstarry Basin a spring clean. Cathie Craigie MSP said: “The Forth and Clyde Canal is a vital part of our heritage in Cumbernauld and Kilsyth and I am delighted pupils from Kilsyth Primary and Holy Cross Nursery will play an important part to help keep it beautiful and tidy." Alison Morrison, Project Officer for The Waterways Trust Scotland, said: “We were delighted that Cathie was able to support both the children and the Towpath Tidy initiative. Our waterways provide beautiful locations for people of all ages to enjoy the natural environment. However litter can be a real problem. It is a danger to both people and wildlife and it damages the local environment. “Having children join in activities such as this helps to raise awareness of our waterways whilst also sending the message that our canals and rivers are beautiful places which should be cared for and not treated like a litter bin.” Dr Olivia Lassiere, heritage & environment manager for British Waterways Scotland said; “We were delighted that Cathie Craigie was able to lend her support to our annual towpath tidy week on the Forth & Clyde canal. Our ‘tidies’ are very important as they help us to clean up the towpaths, maintaining and protecting the canal network for all users, including the various wildlife that call the canals home. “We hope that this annual activity will encourage everyone to keep Scotland’s canals tidy throughout the year so they can be enjoyed by all.” School children from the Glasgow and West Dunbartonshire area also got their hands dirty as part of the Towpath Tidy campaign as they spring cleaned the towpath alongside Forth & Clyde Canal. On Monday 23rd March 30 pupils from St Mary’s School in Duntocher cleared rubbish from along the towpath between Clydebank shopping centre and Linnvale. In Maryhill eighteen children from Wynford Primary School’s eco-community picked up litter between Stockingfield Junction and Maryhill Locks on Tuesday 24th March. Finally on Friday 27th March ten teenagers with learning disabilities from St Joan of Arc RC Special School in Lambhill, north Glasgow, tidied up the towpath from Lambhill to Cadder.
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