Woking Funeral Service take action to tackle ‘growing litter problem’

Staff at Woking Funeral Service, have taken it upon themselves to clean up their local community after noticing a “growing litter problem” during lockdown.

The parlour, which is part of the Funeral Partners group, filled over four bin bags in one day by walking six kilometres through the town, while stopping at “several littering hotspots” along the way including Woking Park.

The initiative was led by one of the company’s funeral arrangers Louise Jarret who first noticed an “abundance of litter” while on daily walks with her mother during lockdown. 

Jarret said if it was not for lockdown restrictions encouraging the public to exercise more she “may never have seen just how bad the litter problem has got in the town.”

Jarret initially began collecting the rubbish with just her mother, but then asked other colleagues at Woking Funeral Service for help.

She said: “I sent around an email and five of my colleagues immediately expressed an interest in doing something, so we set aside a Saturday for a six-kilometre walk.

“People from WEact, a local environmental action group, were kind enough to bring us a beautiful plant after seeing what we were doing. Some passers-by also decided to help pick up rubbish with us.”

She added: “As well as being a constant eyesore for residents, the litter is incredibly harmful to the environment and local wildlife. I therefore encourage anyone in the area to get involved and do some good for the town.”