Welcome to Peninsula Methodist Church Church

Litter picking around the area where the church is situated in Strood is not always a pleasant job. The wind seems to blow rubbish down the hill, and it gathers in places that hardly seem possible to reach but somehow it does. 

This community project began just after COVID, with support from the church’s minister at the time and the local council. What started with five volunteers has now become a smaller but still committed team of two. 

Although it is not the worst job in the world, some parts are certainly more challenging than others especially trying to pick up leftover food from the pavement, particularly anything slimy. Cigarette butts are another constant battle; hours could easily be spent clearing just one small area of them. 

The whole road is long and steep, so the team focuses on covering as much as time and energy allow each week. Together, they usually fill two or three bags of rubbish, most of it made up of bottles and cans. There is often amusement and confusion over why people leave half-finished cans of “fruit juice” abandoned on the pavement. 

Despite the challenges, the work continues each week unless the weather is especially dreadful. And, of course, every litter-picking session ends with a well-earned reward: a cup of tea and a biscuit — with the tea bag, naturally, being carefully disposed of in the food recycling waste bin.