Community groups are working hard to spruce-up a north-east town as coronavirus restrictions ease.
Many activities have been suspended for months as lockdown has prevented Inverurie residents from working as normal.
But members of the town’s community council have now staged their first socially-distanced litter pick, joined by ward councillors.
Starting with Kellands Park, the volunteers worked their way around public spaces, towards the town’s community campus.
There was also a tidy-up around the scout hut and old Inverurie Academy building and, with the first post-lockdown effort complete, organisers hope more local will join them.
Colin Wood, chairman of Inverurie Community Council, said: “We started small with just a few of our own volunteers on this occasion but we have had a few new volunteers from the community coming forward this week offering to join us on our next one, as and when that is arranged.
“Together with the volunteers from these other groups, we aim to raise awareness about littering, responsible use of our town’s open spaces and recycling.
“We want to try and instil a real sense of pride in our community.”
The town has standards to maintain – just last year it received a Beautiful Scotland 2019 Gold Medal award for a second consecutive year, in large part thanks to the efforts of the Inverurie Environmental Improvement (IEI) group.
It was praised in particular for providing and maintaining hanging baskets at the town’s railway station.
That made the IEI committee members the perfect people to lead the community council in filling the planters and hanging baskets around the town, with additional assistance from Pitscurry and local Rotary Club members.
In a sign that things are not quite normal, efforts were complicated by the new one-way traffic management system in Inveruire, which made it tricky to hang the baskets in West High Street, especially near the junction with Constitution Street.
John Glover, IEI chairperson said: “The annual hanging baskets and summer bedding displays in the planters bring a lot of pleasure to Inverurie residents and visitors to the town.
“We hope it brings some cheer as the town’s economy slowly recovers as lockdown restrictions are eased.
“As the saying goes ‘your health is your wealth’ and staying safe and well is everyone’s primary concern, but supporting the local economy is also of paramount importance in the months and years ahead”.
Another community litter pick is expected to take place towards the end of the school holidays.
To get involved, visit the Inverurie Community Council Facebook page or facebook.com/inverurieenvironmentalimprovement.
