Meet the Howdon man who is 'making a real difference' in helping to keep the community free from rubbish

One man is taking it upon himself to clean and tidy his local community after becoming fed up with the amount of litter.

Adam Carruthers, who is from Howdon, started his work in August and since then has cleaned and tidied various places around the area.

When asked why he started his clean-up, Adam told ChronicleLive: "I was getting really unhealthy, so I started going on walks. I saw a few places with lots of litter and had an idea to buy a grabber and start picking the litter up. It's a win-win situation as I am helping myself and the local community."

READ MORE:Councillor launches campaign to become next North Tyneside Elected Mayor

READ MORE:Temporary classrooms up and ready for Wallsend secondary school blighted by structural issues

The 25-year-old, who goes out five or six times a week to pick up litter and tidy, can walk between 5,000-15,000 steps a day, depending on where he is going. And where he goes largely depends on people contacting him about areas in need of a tidy.

"I get DMs [direct messages] on Facebook Messenger from people telling me that certain areas are really messy or full of rubbish. I try to get there as soon as possible to clean it. I have a checklist and when I have completed tidying, I mark it off.

"About a month ago I cleaned along Martin Road which was littered with rubbish. It took me over two-and-a-half hours to clean, and I filled lots of bin bags with rubbish. I was going to clean round Howdon Metro too, but I was too tired."

Adam added there should be more bins in the area, particularly for dog waste. "I always see dog litter, but I can't pick it up as there are no dog bins to put it in."

ChronicleLive approached North Tyneside Council for comment. Dame Norma Redfearn DBE, Elected Mayor of North Tyneside Council, said: “It’s fantastic to see Adam's commitment to the community and making a real difference to the area he lives. The community pride we have in North Tyneside is something I’m proud of and this is a perfect example of it in action. Thank you, Adam.”

Adam also added that community group Howdon Matters have been a great help. "They have given me a lot of equipment in order to do it including bin bags and gloves."

Adam hopes that he inspires people to keep Howdon and their local communities clean too. "I would love for people to join in and get involved with it. It’s not just helping the community, but it is good exercise too."