TILLICOULTRY residents have been rolling up their sleeves to give the town a sprucing up with regular litter picks.

Organised by Graeme Clark of Tilly Baptist Church and Tic Toc, the volunteers come together once a month on Saturdays to give the area a clean and tidy.

Graeme said the litter pick gives residents a chance to do their bit to help the environment and to bring a little more "respectability" to the town as well.

He added: "There are individuals in the community who would also like to do that, so about six months ago we arranged a litter pick once a month on a Saturday morning.

"The council provide bags and they do a pick-up on a Monday so they've been very helpful and supportive to the initiative."

The litter pick is also said to be a great way for members of the community to socialise and meet new friends – at a time when many could do with some added company.

Graeme continued: "There is no doubt that when people weren't getting out, the community itself felt a bit down.

"One of the things about the litter pick is that when started in March, there was a lot of litter because there had been a lot of litter sitting for months and years.

"And one of the good things was there is now visible difference, I think, in the litter levels of our community and that's because not only have people gone out and done that but also the ownership of it as well.

"It's raised awareness, when people see others picking up litter on a Saturday, they're inclined, I hope, to think: 'Maybe I'll just take my litter home with me'.

"It's all about behavioural change and we're not interested just in that but the environmental impact; not having litter scattered [all over the town] will have real value to that."

Despite only gathering and disposing of litter once a month, Graeme hopes the small gesture will have a big impact.

He said: "We're doing the full breadth of the town as far as possible, and over the months we've seen people coming to help who've heard it's happening and want to get involved.

"It's been really good to meet new people from the community who are interested in doing a small thing for the community.

"Everyone can play a small part in making a big difference to their town."