Arnold teacher leads community events to revive neglected green spaces

A full-time teacher is using her free time to spruce up the green community spaces of Arnold whilst also studying for a masters.

Jessica Limbrick, 35, of Arnold, set up her community interest company, Spritely Sustainable, in October 2022 to assist families and kids accessing green spaces whilst also protecting our planetary health.

Limbrick, a business teacher for Bulwell Academy, who used to teach geography, said: “When I was teaching the curriculum and sustainability would come up, it just wasn’t covered in the depth that I think young people need to be learning about at the time.

“It just made me question what we’re learning about, and what their understanding is, and how we can be sustainable going forward. Not just from the environmental perspective, but also as a community.”

After starting to post on social media in February, the Spritely Sustainable page has amassed over 2,200 followers who all get to vote on what places they want to be cleaned up.

The Nottingham Trent University master’s student has spent this April cleaning up King George’s Park, Killisick Allotment and the Arnold library planters, as voted for by the public, by litter picking, cleaning up graffiti and weeding.

“I think for a long time, people have wanted and have had a desire to help their community, but they just don’t have an outlet as to how or where to start.”

Jessica Limbrick

Limbrick said she puts up polls so “even those that aren’t physically able still feel involved” in the transformation of their local community spaces.

She added: “The support from the community has been absolutely incredible. I think for a long time, people have wanted and have had a desire to help their community, but they just don’t have an outlet as to how or where to start.

“It has been on everyone’s mind because Arnold has been left for quite a while. It has been depreciating for some time from being poorly maintained.”

Fad Stevens, 61, of Arnold, recently moved back up to Nottingham from London to look after his mum.

The retiree said: “I joined this about 4 weeks ago, I’ve never done anything like this before, but I didn’t know anyone when I moved up.”

He added: “I also like to see people’s shocked expressions when they see someone dressed like a pirate picking up litter.

“As you can imagine from my appearance, getting on with the community isn’t that easy so I thought, alright, I’ll make an example.”

Gwen and Daisy Amies-Wilde, 10 and 9, both come regularly to the Spritely Sustainable community events with their dad, Mark Wilde, 40, to litter pick.

Gwen said she likes to pick up litter because it means “animals don’t eat it” and Daisy said: “It’s just fun picking stuff up and cleaning the environment.”

At each gathering, all the tools such as litter picks, gloves and bin bags are provided to make it easier for people to get involved.

From pirate litter-pickers to pint-sized eco warriors, the Arnold locals are proving alongside Spritely Sustainable that protecting the community is best when it’s a collective effort.