#Rubbish Removal South West London

[rubbishwaste]

Efficient rubbish removal in Kingston | Rubbish Waste

Efficient rubbish removal in Kingston! We handle waste responsibly, offering prompt services for homes and businesses. Clear clutter with ease. Eco-friendly solutions for a cleaner environment. Contact us for hassle-free rubbish removal! https://www.rubbishwaste.co.uk/

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South Bucks Rubbish Clearance provide house clearance, rubbish clearance, waste disposal, waste removal services in Chalfont St Peter, Beaconsfield, Gerrards, Amersham, throughout South Bucks and West London.

[amaximorestuff]

Where and how to find safe, reliable and professional heating services for your home in the UK

In cold countries like the UK, central heating is found in almost every home, but according to research, it is also responsible for about 70% of household energy consumption. The latest figures show that around 2.38m households in the UK are currently experiencing ‘fuel poverty’ - which indicates that almost 11% of UK homes also cannot afford to stay warm.

But while the scope of this problem is significant, not all solutions have to be complex and expensive and with a little research of your own, you will be able to find suitable and affordable heating services to fit your budget. There are also other ways of keeping your home warm for less, for example by using timers on your central heating.

When it comes to heat inside a home, around 25% is lost through the roof, but this can be easily reduced by installing insulation throughout your roof. It may also be worth your time and money to take a better look at insulating your walls, as about a third of the heat in an uninsulated home is lost this way.

In countries like the UK, many households also opt for more modern ways to heat their homes, like underfloor heating. Electric underfloor heating in a standard-sized four-square meter bathroom, run for two hours in the morning and two in the afternoon, is estimated at a cost of less than £3.50 per month, and electric underfloor heating installation by a reliable heating services company could cost anything from around £3,500 for a standard three-bedroom house.

Underfloor heating consists of an electrical panel system or network of wires that spread heat underneath a floor, but it is recommended that you find a well-established and experienced heating services company to install the system in your home. Underfloor heating is a safe, convenient, and hypoallergenic of generating heat and it can even be installed in bathrooms.

Homeowners usually use underfloor heating systems in their kitchens, living rooms, bathrooms, and other frequently used areas. In some cases, they serve as the primary heating for an entire home. While underfloor heating systems are generally extremely reliable and rarely offers any problems, things do sometimes go wrong, it can be difficult to detect the fault and even costly to have it repaired.

Sometimes a part of the system needs to be replaced and it may require that a portion of the floor be removed to gain access to the damaged part. When it comes to underfloor heating, it is always better to opt for professional heating services providers in your area. It does not matter what type of heating system you have in your home; you will always need professional heating services to take care of installation, maintenance, and repairs.

There are several reasons why an underfloor heating system can suddenly malfunction, and it is difficult to detect the exact point of fault, but people who are trained, skilled and experienced in the field of underfloor heating, will be able to detect the problem and have it resolved.

You will also require the services of a reputable, gas-safe registered company if you are looking to replace your old boiler with a new one. You could for example, save around £350 if have your old boiler replace with a new A-rated condensing boiler that uses less energy to produce the same amount of heat. This will however, depend on the type of house you have and what type of boiler you previously had.

Many heating services companies in London offer a variety of service and home heating solutions, but it is recommended that you first do your homework and find out what others have to say about a company before you hire them to do the work. It is also a good idea to browse their website and ask for a free, no-obligation quotation first and to compare prices with other companies to ensure you get the best deal.

About us

Maximore is a family run Gas Safe registered company that covers the entire South-West London and parts of Surrey providing personalised service to private homeowners, estate agents and contractors. Backed by over a decade of experience in the industry, Maximore comes highly recommended because they have the skills and knowledge to undertake any job, however big or small. They deliver the best results in helping customers take care of the safety aspects as well as the basic needs of their homes. Their team of highly qualified, skilled, and experienced specialists are always available to help, from fixing a dripping tap to installing complete plumbing and heating installations. They also specialise in property refurbishment and renovation services for residential and small commercial projects, from removing the old furniture and rubbish to the last decoration touches. To find out more about their services and prices, visit http://maximore.co.uk

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Enjoy Your Weekends When You Have a Maid Service

"There are numerous expert cleansing companies offered in London these days. Some can supply a basic cleaning service while others choose to specialize in areas such as domestic cleaning, end of tenancy cleaning company and even commercial cleansing.

Hiring a cleaning company in London can prove to be a really affordable and cheap method to get your home, office or particular products, such as a carpet or upholstery, cleaned up effectively.

Numerous cleaning companies provide cleaning services throughout Greater and Central London: South West London, East, North West London, West, and South East London. They can cover Middlesex, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Kingston.

Here are a few of the more specialized areas of cleaning:

Carpet Cleansing

As you will understand, it is simple to spill a variety of various compounds on your carpet and there is likewise the deep-seated dirt and dust that can be tough to get out. If you need your office or home carpets to be cleaned completely, then highly trained carpet cleaners and steam professionals can come to the rescue with their modern carpet cleansing strategies.

Domestic Cleaning

In this busy age, it's simple to support on all those essential family tasks such as cleaning the home; the bathroom and kitchen area proving particularly challenging jobs, not to discuss the washing up and ironing. Domestic cleaning services are readily available in London to assist you out with all these house tasks.

Workplace Cleansing

Expert agreement cleaners can clean offices and workplace buildings for organisations of all sizes. From fundamental everyday jobs such as workplace health in kitchen area and restroom centers to the care of windows, walls and the carpets; office cleaners can clean up the lot.

Carpet Cleaning

Carpet cleaning experts can also be employed to look after any carpets that require cleansing. Whether it is an Oriental carpet that needs to be delicately managed or an antique rug, the most ideal method for that type of rug can be utilized successfully by a carpet cleaning company.

Bed mattress Cleaning

It is essential to oversleep an actually tidy and sanitary bed, nevertheless, nowadays people hardly ever clean their bed mattress, allowing allergen and bacteria to flourish. This can be unhealthy, so routine mattress cleaning company can clean the bed mattress for you, leaving you to have lots of an excellent night's sleep.

London Cleansing Company

Lond Cleaning companies are readily available to offer a range of domestic cleaning company to customers, typically domestic cleaning company to people in addition to business business. Cleansing Agencies can be hired to clean a home or office; to a remarkably high requirement.

Cleaning Business in London

If your office or home needs a good clean, either on a one-off cleaning or on a regular basis, you can work with an expert domestic cleansing company to satisfy your requirements. The flexible series of services a London cleansing business provides can be relied upon to successfully clean your living or workplace to your complete satisfaction.

End of Tenancy Cleaning

This is a specialized deep-cleaning service that can be utilized to clean up any leased home ready for brand-new occupants to relocate, or to get the location looking clean and neat once again so you can declare back your deposit. In either case, these cleaning company can sterilize the home and make it look tidy and inviting again.

Upholstery Cleansing

If your furniture upholstery and/or drapes are in requirement of a good clean, there are services available that can visit your office or home in London to provide a service. Upholstery can be cleaned utilizing either the damp or dry cleansing technique that includes stain treatment.

Window Cleansing

It is relatively common to discover that your windows look dull, filthy and smudged. This can greatly impact the outside view. Expert window cleansing services can make sure all the accessible windows in your house or office are left gleaming clean and smudge-free so you can value the view as soon as again.

Ironing and Cleaning

Have you ever wished you didn't need to do all the cleaning and ironing that appears to be constantly accumulating? Even if you just want a time-out from these tasks, domestic cleaning services are offered in London that can take care of these duties for a while. Expert London cleaning company can be worked with on a routine and even regular monthly basis to eliminate the problem of these needed domestic tasks.

After Party Cleaning

As soon as the celebration is over often the mess left over can be a genuine problem. By using these services the rubbish can be cleared, pots washed and the restroom and kitchen can be returned to typical for you.

After Builders Cleaning

The home builders might have left, however the devastation left in your house or workplace can make you feel distraught. Cleaning services can remove all the remaining building dust and dirt before cleaning, cleaning and scrubbing all the surface areas for you, making the area look habitable once again.

Celebration Aid

Cleaners can likewise supply help at parties; whether you need assist with the cooking, serving beverages or the basic cleansing - both prior to and after the occasion.

The perfect guidance is to use a professional cleaner."

[savetopnow]

2018-04-06 03 NEWS now

NEWS

Associated Press

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1 dead, 3 injured, including man in 'extremely critical condition' after West Side blaze

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Favored Democratic candidate wins by 12 votes, now aims for Rauner-allied county commissioner

Hearing to determine fate of West Chicago man accused in death of Elgin motorcyclist

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Candidatos a la gubernatura de California respaldan la ley santuario

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60 U.S. Diplomats Leave Russian Posts, Expelled Over Skripal Poisoning Row

NYC Police Fatally Shoot Black Man, Mistake Pipe For Gun

New York Times

Feature: How Lisa Murkowski Mastered Trump’s Washington

2018 Masters Leaderboard: Live Tiger Woods Score and Updates

Pressure Mounts on Scott Pruitt, E.P.A. Chief, as Top Advisers Eye the Exit

Why China Is Confident It Can Beat Trump in a Trade War

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ProPublica

Four Ways to Fix Facebook

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‘God help us if it gets hot’: Train hauling 10M pounds of human feces stranded in town

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Reuters

U.S. policy toward fighting Islamic State in Syria unchanged: general

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The Altantic

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[royjonathan90]

South Bucks Rubbish Clearance provide house clearance, rubbish clearance, waste disposal, waste removal services in Chalfont St Peter, Beaconsfield, Gerrards, Amersham, throughout South Bucks and West London.

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South Bucks Rubbish Clearance provide house clearance, rubbish clearance, waste disposal, waste removal services in Chalfont St Peter, Beaconsfield, Gerrards, Amersham, throughout South Bucks and West London.

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South Bucks Rubbish Clearance provide house clearance, rubbish clearance, waste disposal, waste removal services in Chalfont St Peter, Beaconsfield, Gerrards, Amersham, throughout South Bucks and West London.

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These Artifacts Were Stolen. Why Is It So Hard to Get Them Back?

In 2004, Steve Dunstone and Timothy Awoyemi stood on a boat on the bank of the River Niger.

The two middle-aged men, both police officers in Britain, were taking part in a journey through Nigeria, organized through the Police Expedition Society, and had reached the small town of Agenebode, in the country’s south. Their group brought gifts with them from British schoolchildren, including books and supplies. The local schools had been alerted in advance, and a crowd came down to the river banks to meet them; there was even a dance performance.

It was a wonderful — if slightly overwhelming — welcome, Mr. Dunstone recalled.

In the back of the crowd, Mr. Awoyemi, who was born in Britain and grew up in Nigeria, noticed two men holding what looked like political placards. They didn’t come forward, he said. But just as the boat was about to push off, one of the men suddenly clambered down toward it.

“He had a mustache, scruffy stubble, about 38 to 40, thin build,” Mr. Dunstone recalled recently. “He was wearing a white vest,” he added.

The man reached out his arm across the water and handed Mr. Dunstone a note, then hurried off with barely a word.

That night, Mr. Dunstone pulled the note from his pocket. Written on it were just six words: “Please help return the Benin Bronzes.”

At the time, he didn’t know what it meant. But that note was the beginning of a 10-year mission that would take Mr. Dunstone and Mr. Awoyemi from Nigeria to Britain and back again, involve the grandson of one of the British soldiers responsible for the looting, and see the pair embroiled in a debate about how to right the wrongs of the colonial past that has drawn in politicians, diplomats, historians and even a royal family.

By the end, Mr. Dunstone and Mr. Awoyemi would have done more to return looted art to Nigeria — with two small artifacts — than some of the world’s leading museums, where the debate over the right of return continues.

World Treasures

The Benin Bronzes are not actually from the country of Benin; they come from the ancient Kingdom of Benin, now in southern Nigeria.

They’re also not made from bronze. The various artifacts we call the Benin Bronzes include carved elephant tusks and ivory leopard statues, even wooden heads. The most famous items are 900 brass plaques, dating mainly from the 16th and 17th centuries, once nailed to pillars in Benin’s royal palace.

There are at least 3,000 items scattered worldwide, maybe thousands more. No one’s entirely sure.

You can find Benin Bronzes in many of the West’s great museums, including the British Museum in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. They’re in smaller museums, too. The Lehman, Rockefeller, Ford and de Rothschild families have owned some. So did Pablo Picasso.

Their importance was appreciated in Europe from the moment they were first seen there in 1890s. Curators at the British Museum compared them at that time with the best of Italian and Greek sculpture.

Today, the artifacts still leave people dumbstruck. Neil MacGregor, the British Museum’s former director, has called them “great works of art” and “triumphs of metal casting.”

There’s one place, however, where few of the original artifacts are found: Benin City, where they were made.

That may change. Benin’s royal family and the Nigerian local and national governments plan to open a museum in Benin City in 2023 with at least 300 Benin Bronzes. Currently the site is a bit of land that’s little more than a traffic island.

Those pieces will come mainly from the collections of 10 major European museums, such as the Humboldt Forum in Berlin, the Weltmuseum in Vienna and the British Museum. They will initially be on loan for three years, with the possibility to renew. Or, when those loans run out, other Benin Bronzes could replace them. The museum could become a rotating display of the kingdom’s art.

This hugely complex initiative — organized through the Benin Dialogue Group, which first convened in 2010 — is being celebrated as a chance for people in Nigeria to see part of their cultural heritage. “I want people to be able to understand their past and see who we were,” said Godwin Obaseki, governor of Edo State, home to Benin City, and a key figure in the project.

But is the Benin plan — a new museum filled with loans — a more practical solution than a full-scale return, long called for by many Nigerians and by some activists? That probably depends on what you think about how the Benin Bronzes were obtained in the first place.

Ill-Gotten Gains

On Jan. 2, 1897, James Phillips, a British official, set out from the coast of Nigeria to visit the oba, or ruler, of the Kingdom of Benin.

News reports said he took a handful of colleagues with him, and it’s assumed he went to persuade the oba to stop interrupting British trade. (He had written to colonial administrators, asking for permission to overthrow the oba, but was turned down.)

When Phillips was told the oba couldn’t see him because a religious festival was taking place, he went anyway.

He didn’t come back.

For the Benin Kingdom, the killing of Phillips and most of his party had huge repercussions. Within a month, Britain sent 1,200 soldiers to take revenge.

On Feb. 18, the British Army took Benin City in a violent raid. The news reports — including in The New York Times — were full of colonial jubilation. None of the reports mentioned that the British forces also used the opportunity to loot the city of its artifacts.

At least one British soldier was “wandering round with a chisel & hammer, knocking off brass figures & collecting all sorts of rubbish as loot,” Capt. Herbert Sutherland Walker, a British officer, wrote in his diary.

“All the stuff of any value found in the King’s palace, & surrounding houses, has been collected,” he added.

Within months, much of the bounty was in England. The artifacts were given to museums, or sold at auction, or kept by soldiers for their mantelpieces. Four items — including two ivory leopards — were given to Queen Victoria. Soon, many artifacts ended up elsewhere in Europe, and in the United States, too.

“We were once a mighty empire,” said Charles Omorodion, 62, an accountant who grew up in Benin City but now lives in Britain and has worked to get the pieces returned from British museums. “There were stories told about who we were, and these objects showed our strength, our identity,” he said.

He said that seeing the Benin Bronzes in the world’s museums filled him with pride, as they showed visitors how great the Benin Kingdom had been. But, he added, he also felt frustration, bitterness and anger about their being kept outside his country. “It’s not just they were stolen,” he said, “it’s that you can see them being displayed and sold at a price.”

Insult to Injury

Benin City has been calling for the return of its artifacts for decades. But a key moment came in the 1970s when the organizers of a major festival of black art and culture in Lagos, Nigeria, asked the British Museum for one prized item: a 16th-century ivory mask of a famous oba’s mother.

They wanted to borrow the work, to serve as the centerpiece of the 1977 event, but the British Museum said it was too fragile to travel. Nigeria’s news media told a different story, reporting that the British government had asked for $3 million insurance, a cost so high it was seen as a slap in the face.

That incident is still fresh in some Nigerians’ minds, more than 40 years later. At a recent meeting of the Benin Union of the United Kingdom, an expatriate group that meets at a church in south London, several members brought up versions of the festival incident when asked about the Benin Bronzes. Then they started criticizing British museums, which they said never seemed willing to return stolen items, despite repeated requests.

“I wouldn’t go there,” said Julie Omoregie, 61, when asked if she’d ever been to the British Museum, a half-hour away by subway, to see the mask. It was “an insult” that it was in the museum, she said. When she was a child, she recalled, her father would sing her a song about the raid, and she would cry every time. “It is time for them to give us back what they took from us,” she said.

David Omoregie, 64, another member of the group, said “The British are very good at telling you, ‘We are looking after it. If you’d been looking after it, it would have been stolen by now.’”

He agreed with that once, he said, but he didn’t anymore: “You can leave your car to rot outside your drive; at least it’s your car,” he added.

Some pieces stolen in the raid have gone back to Nigeria from institutions. In the 1950s, the British Museum sold several plaques to Nigeria for a planned museum in Lagos, for instance, and sold others on the open market. But those were not the free, full-scale returns people call for now.

Pressure for those types of returns has grown recently. In 2016, students at Jesus College, part of Cambridge University, campaigned to have a statue of a cockerel removed from the hall where it had been displayed for years. Last November, the college announced that the cockerel must be returned. (It has yet to say when or how.)

In the United States too, students have protested the presence of a Benin Bronze at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum. The museum has said it is looking to return the item, but was struggling to find out whom to actually work with: the Nigerian government, the Benin royal family or others.

But nothing has publicly gone back to Nigeria in decades, except, that is, for two small items. And, that’s thanks, at least in part, to Mr. Awoyemi and Mr. Dunstone.

Heading Back

When Mr. Dunstone got back to England from Nigeria, he couldn’t shake that note from his mind: “Please help return the Benin Bronzes.”

He didn’t even know what they were, he recalled recently, but Mr. Awoyemi did — he’d learned all about them and the 1897 raid as a teenager in Nigeria — and he filled Mr. Dunstone in.

Mr. Dunstone simply couldn’t understand why Britain still had the Benin artifacts, he said. That feeling grew one day when he went to the British Museum to look at its collection. He was blown away by the 50-odd plaques on display, and more so when a security guard told him that there were 1,000 more items in the basement. (In fact, the museum owns around 900 items from Benin, and many are in storage in another building.)

“We really did steal them,” Mr. Dunstone, now 61, said. “We weren’t at war, we turned up and hacked them off the walls.”

In 2006, Mr. Dunstone created a web page about the Benin Bronzes, with Mr. Awoyemi’s input. He added a note at the bottom of the page asking anyone with information about the whereabouts of any items to get in touch. The two men, who became friends as colleagues in the police force protecting the British royal family, even wrote to the oba in Benin and the Nigerian government, asking for permission to act as envoys to Britain’s museums to try and get the artifacts back to Nigeria.

No one replied, Mr. Awoyemi, 52, said. “We were so passionate,” he added, “but we were becoming frustrated with the whole thing.”

Mr. Awoyemi and Mr. Dunstone were just about to give up when, one day, in 2013, an email arrived. It was from a doctor from Wales named Mark Walker. Mr. Walker said he owned two of the looted items: a small bird that used to be on top of a staff, and a bell that had been struck to summon ancestors.

He wanted to give them back.

Mr. Walker, 72, is now retired and spends much of his time sailing. His grandfather was Captain Walker, who described the looting in his diary and took the pieces during the 1897 raid. They were once used as doorstops, Mr. Walker said, but after he inherited them they sat on a bookshelf, gathering dust. They’d be better off in Nigeria with the culture that created them, he said.

“My view is the British Museum should use modern technology to make perfect casts of its whole collection and send it all back,” he said recently. “You wouldn’t know the difference.”

At first, Mr. Walker didn’t want to go to Nigeria, afraid, Mr. Awoyemi said, that he might be prosecuted for having had them at all. But Mr. Awoyemi and Mr. Dunstone convinced him that the publicity from such a bold move could lead others to return items.

The Nigerian Embassy in London agreed to sponsor the trip, but pulled out when Mr. Walker insisted the items had to be returned directly to Benin City and the current oba, rather than to Nigeria’s president, Mr. Awoyemi said.

So Mr. Dunstone and Mr. Awoyemi mounted an amateur public relations campaign, securing appearances for themselves on radio and TV, to help raise the funds and show the royal court in Benin City that they were serious.

It worked.

In June 2014, Mr. Walker, Mr. Dunstone and Mr. Awoyemi headed to Benin City to return the artifacts to the oba.

The ceremony at the oba’s palace was as overwhelming as the welcome on the river bank that had begun the whole journey, Mr. Dunstone said. It was filled with so many dignitaries and journalists, there was initially no room for him.

Mr. Walker said he handed over the objects quickly, without fuss. In return, the oba gave him, just as calmly, a tray of gifts, including a modern sculpture of a leopard head’s that weighed about 40 pounds.

“I was horrified,” Mr. Walker said. “I’d gone all that way to get rid of stuff, not get more.”

Where Next?

If there aren’t more individuals like Mr. Walker on the horizon, looking to give unwanted artifacts back, is the new museum full of items on loan the best Benin City can hope for?

Maybe.

Nigerian government officials have played down the need for items to be permanently returned. Mr. Obaseki, the state governor, said at a news conference at the British Museum last year: “These works are ambassadors. They represent who we are, and we feel we should take advantage of them to create a connection with the world.” His message: Nigeria wants them on display in the world’s museums, not just in Benin City.

Some museums do appear open to returning looted objects permanently, rather than lending them. Last March, the National Museum of World Cultures in the Netherlands launched a policy to consider claims for cultural objects acquired during colonial times.

Nigeria could claim the museum’s 170 or so artifacts from Benin City under the policy, if it proves that the items had been “involuntarily separated” from their rightful owners, or that the items are of such value to Nigeria that it “outweighs all benefits of retention by the national collection in the Netherlands.”

German museums have agreed to a similar policy.

Given how many Benin Bronzes are in Western museums, it seems likely some requests made under those policies would be accepted.

Until the museum in Benin City is built, however, nothing is likely to be returned permanently unless it is done by individuals. No one has a firm idea how many looted items are in private hands, but they used to regularly come up at auction. (The record price, set in 2016, is well over $4 million.)

Mr. Dunstone said he had hoped that dozens of people would have come forward with items to return by now. The ceremony in 2014 received a flurry of media attention, and he went back to England expecting new Mr. Walkers to appear.

It didn’t happen. He got one email from a man in South Africa who claimed to have fished a Benin Bronze out of a river. He was willing to mail it to Mr. Dunstone for $2,500.

Mr. Dunstone, ever the police officer, suspected a scam and didn’t write back.

“I’m less proactive now,” he said. “But my heart’s still open.”

Mr. Awoyemi said he was disappointed, too, that no one came forward, but was excited by the museum plan. He was even willing to help with security, he said, if the oba would let him.

Mr. Walker can’t put the Benin Bronzes behind him, either. A few months ago, he was looking online at Benin Bronzes held by the Horniman Museum in London and came across an intricately carved wooden paddle. It was almost identical to two he had in his home, which he thought his parents had bought on vacation.

Then he realized his grandfather must have looted them from Benin City, too.

In December, he lent the paddles to the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford — a member of the Benin Dialogue Group — with one condition: They had to be returned to Benin City within three years.

He wasn’t going to be getting on a plane with Mr. Dunstone and Mr. Awoyemi this time. “It would be harder to get two six-foot paddles through customs,” he said. He also didn’t want his motives questioned. He’s wasn’t returning the items for glory, he said: They should just go back. It’s the right thing to do.

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Prince William Went Down The Boozer For The Football * Euro Weekly News Spain

Credit Twitter

Future King Prince William told fellow football fans he is getting too old to play 11-aside as he joined them in a south-west London boozer to cheer on the England team in their Euro 2020 qualifying game against the Czech Republic.

 At the Prince Albert Pub in Battersea, along with Chelsea manager and ex-England midfielder Frank Lampard, William spoke with several men who shared their personal experiences of mental health problems and football tales.

They celebrated with a beer an early goal from Harry Kane, who scored a penalty to take England 1-0 up after barely five minutes before the Czechs equalised just minutes later.

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The pub trip is part of the new Heads Up campaign, a season-long initiative supported by the charities Mind, Calm, Sporting Chance and Heads Together, which aims to make people, especially men, as comfortable talking about mental health as they are talking about football.

It came the day after World Mental Health Day, which saw Prince Harry join up with singer Ed Sheeran to make an Instagram video urging mental health sufferers not to suffer in silence.

The game itself was enough to turn any fella to another beer as England lost 2-1.

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Underwater Clean-Up Operation In Altea

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SIXTEEN divers removed 1.6 tons of rubbish from Altea’s fishing port and beaches.  The initiative was a joint operation by Altea town hall’s Environment department, the Club Nautico, the Fishing…

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Hospitalised after blaze Marratxi

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GENDER-VIOLENCE claims new victim

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YOU’RE HEAD IS FULL OF STORIES . . . DON’T WASTE THEM!

How to build your expert status with personal anecdotes

Deep in the bowels of a West End theatre, there’s an old seat – long since discarded.

Blow off the dust and you’ll see a faded number. You can just about read it:

“13”.

It was removed from Row Q of the stalls in a refit. But I’m told it’s still there, flea-bitten and ragged. And if you check the underside, there’s still a wooden panel – containing a dent that was made 30 years ago by none other than…

…My head.

It’s true. In fact, if you go to see Wicked, you can ask them – maybe they’ll let you see it?

Because that’s where my head collided (at speed) with the underside of the seat. One fateful night at London’s Apollo Victoria.

I ought to explain…

Back in my student days at UCL, I worked at this theatre. Long before Wicked came along, it was home to Starlight Express – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s tuneless musical where the whole cast is on roller skates, pretending to be the engines and carriages in a kid’s train set.

(Now, if I add that I’m not much of a skater, maybe you can guess the ending?)

I did every job in that place. Box Office. Bar. Usher. Occasional stage crew. And once or twice a month, night-watchman.

Yep, they gave me the keys and a torch, switched off the lights, and left me alone in the place. From kicking-out time at midnight till the cleaners arrived at 6am, I’d be there, rattling around in the dark, hoping all the tales of ghosts were fake – and jumping out of my skin every time the rickety backstage lift moved of its own accord.

Anyway – after a few shifts, word spread front-of-house: “James is on overnights!”

And that was a VERY BIG DEAL!

See, the stage for that show was converted into a giant skating track. It stretched out around the stalls and across the front of the circle. And a small section of it jutted out from the stage, circling the best seats.

Truly, it was one of the best skating tracks anywhere in the world. So anyone would jump at the chance to skate on it, if only they could.

Plus, most of our usherettes were out-of-work dancers who longed to be in the show. They’d have donated kidneys to get 5 minutes’ practice.

So one by one, they made eyes at me – begging to be let in.

And I’m rubbish at saying “NO”!

Before I knew it, I was running an impromptu skating club (that could have got us all fired). They’d come to the stage door with our secret knock just after midnight. Then grab some skates from backstage…hack into the lighting grid…and spend the whole night whizzing around amid the empty seats.

I shouldn’t have joined in.

Definitely, shouldn’t.

I didn’t have their natural dexterity. Or balance. Or training! So I should have sat on the sidelines and watched.

But no. I figured “I can do that”…

…Then found out at 40 miles per hour that I was wrong. I couldn’t!

My first time round the perimeter track, I was crawling at a snail’s pace. Until one of the better skaters zoomed up behind me and pushed me at full force.

I was in serious trouble.

I came flying onto the stage, around the top of a ramp in a semi-circle – on a single wheel.

Inadvertently performing a stunt that the best skater in the show had taken 5 years to perfect.

I made it!

But I was lucky. Quite a few cast members had flown off that section in the past. Limbs broken; careers written off…I’d got off lightly.

Um, except I hadn’t. Because…

Remember I mentioned that bit of track that shot out from the stage? Well I was on it now, all of a sudden. Hurtling, and terrified.

This was a small, tight (and FAST!) bit of track. About 15 feet long, with two ultra-sharp bends that double you back onto the stage in a violent little U-Turn.

And the first bend was approaching, fast.

SITUATION CRITICAL!

No way on earth could a numpty skater like me make a skilled knife-edge turn at speed. Even the cast needed safety barriers to get around it intact. And the barriers were down for the night.

“Shiiiiit!”

Time to weigh up my options:

If I tried to make it, I was going to shoot over the corner bump and sail off the edge. I’d fly 30 feet into the air and land way back in the cheap seats.

Or – if by some miracle I made the bend, I’d have to take the second bend about two seconds later. And that would send me flying smack into a side wall.

And if…by some ultra-miracle…I survived both bends, I’d be flung back onto the stage. Then if I couldn’t stop in time, I’d run straight up a ramp that would throw me into a metal bridge that was dangling overhead.

To be honest, right then it wasn’t looking great!

So – decision time:

Stay on the track and risk a serious organ-squishing injury…or jump now before the bend, to limit the damage?

I jumped.

After 2000 performances of that show, I think I was the first person ever to jump off the track. And definitely first to smash into the underside of Q13.

Whack!

Two minutes later, I came round to that weird mix of intense pain and the merciless laughter of a dozen usherettes.

“Ha ha James nearly died!”

And that’s why the head-shaped dent. It’s my little piece of theatre history.

Anyway – why am I telling you this?

Because there’s a moral to the story. Just as there is with every story – whatever the tale, there’s always a lesson you can draw from it.

In the case of this story, for example, I could segue into any one of these lessons:

“In a split second decision, think damage limitation”

“It doesn’t matter who’s asking – sometimes you have to say NO”

“Be careful who you trust – you never know who’s coming to get you!”

“Don’t assume you can do something just because others can”

“Enthusiasm is no substitute for aptitude and training”

“When you fall, get back up” (I did and became a slightly less rubbish skater)

You see how that works?

Of course, you could just skip the story and get straight to the lesson. But as every preacher knows, stories make it easier to get a point across. They draw your audience in…get them involved, as the story plays out in their mind…so they’re primed and ready for the moral that comes at the end.

Facts and figures or plain assertions will never have that same emotive impact.

So my mantra is, use stories wherever possible. In emails, sales letters, presentations…every type of message can be improved with a story.

… At a social gathering, conversation dries up – it’s awkward. Tell a story.

… A sales presentation is going south – so change tack, make your point with a story.

… That mailer you sent out is bombing. So rewrite it – grab them with a story.

It works like a charm, because we’ve all been told stories from birth. They hook into our DNA, and always will. Technology won’t change this.

“It doesn’t have to be high drama – it just has to make a connection. So you can focus someone’s mind and plant a new idea.”

So where do your stories come from?

Literally, everywhere.

They’re your take on the world. Built on everything you’ve experienced…everything you’ve seen in the news…every tale you’ve heard…every film you’ve seen…every book you’ve read…it’s all inspiration.

From the dinner party tale of your most embarrassing moment, to that epic problem you solved for the client that drove you nuts. It doesn’t have to be high drama – it just has to make a connection. So you can focus someone’s mind on an issue and plant a new idea.

Virtually any business can do this – and should. Because a story in the right hands can move mountains.

Just work back through your life. Find the stories that will hold attention, then think laterally – how can you reflect on it? How can you draw a lesson that establishes you as an expert or thought leader, and changes your reader’s way of thinking – about you, and about their problem?

I’ve built my copywriting business around this. I send an email out to a list of contacts every Friday morning, where I’ll tell a story, draw a lesson and maybe make an offer.

They’re happy to read it, because it entertains and informs. And I get a showcase, where they get to know me and my methods. Win-win!

Try it – you don’t have to be a copywriter. I know people in all industries who use stories, especially through email. A hairdresser… a web developer… an acting coach… a roofer… so why not you?

Take your customers on a journey with you. It’s all there right now in your head, waiting to be released…

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Everything you need to know about residential boiler heating and where to find the best boiler installation services in your area

If you are building a new home or even renovating an old one, heating is one of the most important items to consider, especially in countries like the UK that experience extreme weather and cold temperatures. Even existing heating systems are often subject to review, as operating costs for heating a home tend to vary from one year to the next, as fuels are market-driven. And it is not uncommon to completely overhaul your heating strategy to achieve efficiency and reduce your total annual heating costs. For all of this, you may need boiler installation services.

The well-known gas central heating boiler can be found in nearly 80% of homes in the UK and works by producing hot water and heats throughout a home. However, few people truly understand or know how a boiler works.

Additional heating can also play an important role when combined with your existing heating system and can help lower your heating costs. There are several options for domestic heating systems and decisions are often based on the budget and availability of fuel types in your area. When the main heating system is your immediate priority, you should find a credible gas-safe company that provides boiler installation services in your area.

It is important to keep in mind that no matter what type of boiler or heating system you prefer, maintenance thereof remains essential, especially if you are looking to get the most out of your heating system. Maintenance includes recommended qualified services, as well as frequent parts, changes so make sure to ask the boiler installation services company you choose, if this is included in the package.

Although there are many different types of heating systems available on the market, the conventional boiler heating system remains one of the most popular options across the UK and often also the most recommended by boiler installation services. Contemporary boiler systems for domestic heating consist of a boiler that heats water and recycles it through pipes or tubes. These pipes carrying the hot water, emit heat through baseboard convectors or steel jets.

When the radiator has reached a required temperature, the water is circulated back to the boiler to be reheated and the cycle continues. But any type of boiler has its own unique challenges, and some are more multifaceted than others because it may consist of more parts like valves and controls. Therefore, it requires regular maintenance by a trusted boiler installation services company.

Sometimes things can go wrong with the boiler, for example, a thermostat that malfunctions or the circuit breaker or cycle that controls the furnace, is blown. Finding and correcting the cause of a faulty boiler is not as easy as it sounds, but professional boiler installation services companies are fully equipped to detect and repair any faults on a boiler.

There may be different types of boilers in the UK, but in most cases, the conventional boiler is still found in older homes, while newer homes these days are equipped with a system or combi boiler, which is said to deliver higher water pressure throughout the system. According to research, the boiler market in the UK is currently dominated by the condensing boiler and most boiler installation services are very familiar with the workings of this type of heating system or home appliance.

Condensing boilers are energy-efficient and cost-effective to have, but because most use mains gas, it is critical for you to ensure that the boiler installation services company is gas-safe registered before they start to work on the installation thereof. The same applies if they are going to regularly maintain or replace essential parts of your boiler.

Choosing the right boiler installation services will ensure your heating system always work at an optimum level, to ensure safe, even and convenient distribution of heat throughout your house.  You can search the internet to find a suitable, gas-safe registered company in your area.

About us

Maximore is a family run Gas Safe registered company that covers the entire South-West London and parts of Surrey providing personalised service to private homeowners, estate agents and contractors. Backed by over a decade of experience in the industry, Maximore comes highly recommended because they have the skills and knowledge to undertake any job, however big or small. They deliver the best results in helping customers take care of the safety aspects as well as the basic needs of their homes. Their team of highly qualified, skilled, and experienced specialists are always available to help, from fixing a dripping tap to installing complete plumbing and heating installations. They also specialise in property refurbishment and renovation services for residential and small commercial projects, from removing the old furniture and rubbish to the last decoration touches. To find out more about their services and prices, visit http://maximore.co.uk

[gyrlversion]

ROBERT HARDMAN gets stuck with the Great British Spring Clean

The pro and anti-Brexit brigades were not the only civilian armies on the warpath this weekend.

From West Country beaches to the Yorkshire Dales and Glasgow’s Plantation Park, hundreds of thousands of people of every age (and every political allegiance) were united in their opposition to one thing: litter.

As a result, the whole country is feeling a little cleaner and tidier this morning.

Great swathes of land and sea have been spared umpteen tons of toxic, non-degradable rubbish as a result. Ask anyone who has taken part in the Great British Spring Clean – organised by Keep Britain Tidy and backed by the Daily Mail – and they will tell you this was anything but a chore.

The Go Goldalming Youth Canoe Club during the river Wey litter collection. Great swathes of land and sea have been spared umpteen tons of toxic, non-degradable rubbish as a result

Everyone I met had enjoyed themselves enormously.

In some cases, it also presented some interesting challenges too, as I discovered when I joined a particularly intrepid band of young volunteers in Godalming, Surrey.

Clearing up rubbish is relatively straightforward when you have a bin bag in one hand and a litter-picker in the other. But what if you need to hold a paddle at the same time?

It didn’t bother the members of the Go Godalming Youth Canoe Club as they gathered on the banks of the River Wey in Surrey. Founded by former police officer, Peter Harris, 16 years ago, the club has introduced hundreds of youngsters to the joys of the river.

Over the years, some of its members have not only paddled the 20 miles from Godalming to Weybridge, where the Wey joins the Thames, but have then paddled on all the way to London.

If you head in the opposite direction, however, Godalming is the end of the line for river traffic on the Wey. Town Bridge is the point beyond which no motorised vessel is allowed to proceed.

Yet there is clearly plenty of rubbish upstream and it is also easily accessible by kayak and canoe. So there is no stopping the Go Godalming gang.

Having passed beneath Town Bridge, we make our way upstream to find a remarkable haul of detritus. I am reminded of that old adage about being stuck up a certain creek – except, in this case, I do have a paddle. There are the usual cans and bottles galore plus a lot of crisp packets, of course.

But canoeing instructor Jonathan Allford, 20, finds plenty more besides. He pulls up a fish trap, probably laid by poachers trying to catch some of those North American crayfish which now infest British riverbeds. Even more impressive, is his next find, a Sainsbury’s shopping trolley which he manages to lift in to the central section of his canoe.

There is clearly plenty of rubbish upstream and it is also easily accessible by kayak and canoe. So there is no stopping the Go Godalming gang

His helpers, Amy Mason, seven, and Stanley Cooker, six, are pleased as punch as dog walkers and cyclists along the riverbank admire their curious cargo.

Further downstream, three teenagers have found a mountain of flytipping in the bushes separating the river and the car park at Sainsbury’s. Sam Spraggs, 15, has found a bundle of DVDs, a bath mat and a sleeping bag. Seb Ellery, 14, has filled binliners with books (including a copy of the Bible) and old clothes.

James Rodger, 13, has hauled what looks like a wheel for a trailer or caravan out of the weeds.

‘I’m not sure why that’s in there. It’s still got some good left tread on it!’ jokes Peter Harris, ever the ex-copper. Now 62, he has been closely involved with the River Wey for a long time and says that the flytipping started to get noticeably worse about ten years ago when the local council tips started charging for certain waste.

Having originally started the canoeing club ‘because some local kids were getting a bad press for being in trouble’, he has seen it grow into a very popular community asset.

Five instructors and as many as 50 youngsters might turn up on a summer’s evening for training and a lot of splashing around followed by tea and hot chocolate. It is all run out of a nice old barn which is loaned to the club by the owners of this stretch of the river, the National Trust.

The canoeists are more than happy to repay the favour by keeping the banks litter-free.

Peter’s daughter Tamzin, 18, is in the thick of the clean-up which eventually fills dozens of binliners with every sort of litter, including a pair of suede shoes.

The youngster explains that it is not just a matter of keeping the river clean but also one of safety, too. ‘If you capsize and you hit a shopping trolley or some broken glass, then that’s going to spoil things,’ says James Rodger.

It is a slick operation.

Local policeman Jim Lavery is manning the urns and the tea table on the bank when we return.

A couple of parents are on hand to spray everyone’s hands with antiseptic spray before they dive for plates of biscuits.

Everyone feels that it has been a job well done and Jonathan Allford heads off for Sainsbury’s – still in his waterproof drysuit – to hand back their missing trolley. I move from Surrey to neighbouring Berkshire to catch another Great British Spring Clean.

Bracknell Forest Council and Bracknell Town Council have joined forces for a series of co-ordinated clear-ups which all come together at the end in South Hill Park. More than a hundred local residents have rounded up enough rubbish to fill three tipper trucks and have already split them into what is recyclable and what is not.

Dorothy Hayes MBE, the councillor in charge of waste and recycling for the borough, says that she has noticed a marked improvement in people’s habits.

‘There has definitely been a drop in plastic,’ she says, adding that the council has recently taken delivery of a new specialist recycling truck and named it after a locally-born superstar.

‘We call it “Kate Binslet”,’ she says, helping her two-year-old granddaughter master the lobster claw of a litter-picker. ‘It’s already saved thousands of tons.’

Surveying Bracknell’s handiwork, Councillor Marc Brunel-Walker wants to pay tribute to the Daily Mail. ‘We really have seen a big drop in the number of plastic bags this year and that is down to the Mail’s campaign to stop them,’ he says.

Deputy council leader Dale Birch agrees: ‘This is the time of year when we cut the grass verges for the first time and we are finding that a lot less stuff has been thrown in there. It’s all about unconscious recall and changing habits and that’s what the Mail has been doing.’

One recurring aspect of all this weekend’s efforts right across the country has been the number of young people rolling up their sleeves.

At one spring clean-up after another, we have seen large numbers of schoolchildren and students getting stuck in because they are enjoying it, not because they are being prodded by a parent. Here in Bracknell, I meet the 1st Priestwood Guides happily doing their bit.

Just up the road, a litter blitz by the Egham Residents’ Association is soon beefed up by the arrival of the 1st Egham Scouts who help to fill 20 binliners in just a couple of hours.

And so it continues. The Great British Spring Clean has only just begun. Look on the website and you will see that there are events and gatherings right across Britain over the next four weeks. Volunteers are warmly welcomed everywhere. Don’t wait to be asked.

Tesco ditches plastic fruit and veg packaging 

 Britain’s biggest supermarket will only sell 45 types of fruit and veg loose in a trial aiming to reduce plastic pollution.

Under the scheme at two stores, Tesco will only sell fresh produce including apples, onions and mushrooms unpackaged.

It hopes to extend the initiative to all of its supermarkets in a move that could prevent the production of millions of plastic bags and punnets.

The changes at the Watford and Swindon stores come as customers become increasingly aware of the harm caused by plastic packaging that cannot be recycled.

Tesco said it would closely monitor each of the 45 products to see if the move increased food waste.

n Hundreds of Pret A Manger outlets will offer free filtered drinking water in a bid to cut plastic waste and encourage customers – and passers-by – to carry reusable bottles. 

All aboard! Network Rail’s £1million boost for the Great British Spring Clean 

By Colin Fernandez Environment Correspondent for the Daily Mail  

In an inspiring display of civic pride, an army of thousands of volunteers stepped forward over the weekend to rid Britain of rubbish.

And the Great British Spring Clean, which started on Friday, gained further momentum as Network Rail announced an extra £1million to tidy up the railways.

The cash will go towards removing waste from its stations, tracks and embankments. Around 1,000 Network Rail staff will also take part in litter picks during the Spring Clean, which runs until April 23.

The campaign got into full swing over the weekend as volunteers tackled everything from wet wipe mounds along the Thames to bicycles dumped in brooks in rural Yorkshire. Across the country, bags filled up with plastic bags, bottles and crisp packets in their tens of thousands.

Nearly half a million volunteers have already pledged to join the campaign organised by Keep Britain Tidy and backed by the Daily Mail. It is set to enter the record books as the biggest mass environmental action ever to take place in the UK.

Litter is not only an eyesore but also threatens the health of animals and fish that eat or get caught in it.

Plastic pollution is also increasingly being recognised as a threat to human health because it contaminates rivers and seas.

Taking part in the campaign is as easy as picking up a few pieces of rubbish while walking the dog or going to the shops.

Thousands of volunteers have also signed up to organised litter picks with friends and neighbours.

A total of 486,745 people have pledged to join the Great British Spring Clean, with thousands more signing up every day.

Network Rail said it would carry out additional litter picks at 100 stations across the country – including Bermondsey and Tooting in London, Sheffield, Wrexham in North Wales, Sandhurst in Berkshire and Harrogate in North Yorkshire.

The company also said it would install free drinking fountains at 20 of its stations to encourage use of reusable bottles and flasks. It added that it was working on its own coffee cup recycling scheme.

Andrew Haines, chief executive of Network Rail, said: ‘We are delighted to support the Daily Mail’s Great British Spring Clean campaign and have made an additional £1million available this month to clear litter and fly-tipping from the railway.’

The Spring Clean has been backed by everyone from Prince William and Prime Minister Theresa May to Sir David Attenborough and Chris Packham.

It has also received support from the United Nations. Siim Kiisler, president of the UN Environment Assembly, said litter picks send out a ‘powerful message’ that dropping rubbish is not acceptable.

Hundreds of councils are backing the campaign by supplying litter pickers and bags, and carting off rubbish for recycling.   

Give them a medal… Our litter army: Children join the Great British Spring Clean 

By Louise Atkinson and Eleanor Sharples for the Daily Mail 

After children led the way to kick off the Great British Spring Clean in spectacular style on Friday, this weekend saw what the adults could do.

And it was magnificent. Thousands of big-hearted volunteers – many of them Daily Mail readers – took part throughout the land.

Some did it in groups, some alone – but all made an amazing difference. Here are some of the litter heroes who took part over the weekend… And you could be one of them – there’s still plenty of time to sign up!

23,000 wet wipes in just two hours

Fulham Scouts out collecting wet wipes on the Thames. Volunteers take part in the Thames 21 ‘Big Wet Wipe Count’, along the Thames near Hammersmith Bridge. Last year they found the largest concentration of wet wipes ever recorded on a clean-up at this site (over 5,400 from an area the size of half a tennis court)

A staggering 23,000 wet wipes were pulled from the Thames near Hammersmith Bridge yesterday – in two hours.

A total of 160 volunteers filled 473 bin bags at the event, run by the charity Thames 21.

Alice Hall, Thames River Watch programme coordinator, said: ‘Bringing people down to the shore and them seeing the huge mounds of wet wipes really has a “wow” impact, and people just think: “Oh my goodness this is horrific”.’ Among the volunteers were 28 cubs and scouts.

Jamie Kelly group scout leader said: ‘It is shocking how much pollution is actually in the river.

‘This is part of young people’s heritage and they need to understand what they can really do to protect it.’ Maudie Blackie-Kelly, 13, said: ‘I look at the trees and the river and see how beautiful it is but when I come down here you realise that this is our world, this is what we’re doing to it and we really need to stop.’

Today has filled me with hope

Jenny Elliott helps clear up Primrose Nature Reserve in Jarrow, South Tyneside, as part of the Daily Mail’s Great British Spring Clean campaign

Helpers in Tyneside ended up with 45 black bin bags packed with rubbish from a nature reserve a four-hour operation on Saturday.

Primrose Nature Reserve in Jarrow hosted the event as helpers armed with litter-grabbers from the local community scoured river banks and grass.

The vast pile of rubbish they amassed included plastic waste, crisp packets, water bottles, beer cans and large plastic containers – along with car tyres, metal poles, a microwave door, two shopping trollies, a children’s bike and even the remains of a mattress.

Gayle White, 43, said: ‘This campaign is vital. You have got a wide variety of wildlife in this area and if you don’t look after your own environment who is going to? Today has filled me with hope.’

Bottle tops and a dumped bar stool

Volunteers keeping the plastic waste off of the streets of Chingford in East London

Litter heroes in Chingford, north-east London, collected more than 30 bags of rubbish, dozens of bottle tops – and a bar stool top. They spent two hours cleaning up Chingford Green, the assembly hall and the library on Saturday morning.

Yvonne Sanders, 64, who organised the event, said: ‘I started litter picking last year and it was because I am very sad to see our neighbourhood looking unloved and uncared for. I think if the streets are kept cleaner people are less likely to drop litter.’

She added: It is setting an example as well. I don’t think it’s good for people’s mental health to see litter and rubbish when they’re expecting to be outside in a green space.’

Enough parts to build a new car

Don Catchment Rivers Trust and the British Canoe Union take part in Great British Spring clean on the River Don in Sheffield

Two bikes, a lawnmower, a vacuum cleaner, nine car bumpers and 12 car tyres were hauled from the River Don by a group of volunteers on Saturday.

More than 100 eco-warriors worked hard along a 500-yard stretch of the river, which runs through the former industrial heartland of Sheffield.

‘We almost had enough old car parts to build a new car!’ laughed local mother Jane Campbell, 40, who helped to co-ordinate the weekend’s volunteer efforts.

She said it ‘took a trillion acts of carelessness to clog our planet with rubbish and plastic’ but said ‘all it needs now is a trillion acts of carefulness’ to rid Britain of the scourge of waste on our streets.

Oh, I do love to clean up by the seaside

Families flocked to the seafront in Swansea, South Wales, to join the Great British Spring Clean. Children armed with litter pickers took to the sand in a bid to clear the beach of plastic and waste

Families flocked to the seafront in Swansea to join the Great British Spring Clean.

The sun was shining as around 50 volunteers filled bags with fishing wire, plastic bottles and piles of wet wipes.

Nicky Williams, 40, a medical clerk, took her two-year-old son Mateo to join the mass clean-up. She said: ‘Mateo is enjoying running around and helping out. It’s been a great day.’

Mother-of-three Khaireen Ellyna, 41, an artist, was shocked at the number of wet wipes tangled in the seaweed. She was joined by her daughters – Rowdha, eight, Habeba, six, and four-year-old Ali – who said they were having ‘lots of fun’.

The fantastic volunteers filled 17 bags of rubbish and recycling at the spring clean event yesterday.

Phil Budd, 55, who organised the seaside litter pick, said: ‘These events are a great opportunity for people to get out and feel positive about doing something for their area.’

What’s this? Undies in the Undergrowth

The 50 volunteers clearing up around Chesham Bois, Buckinghamshire on Saturday were certainly in for a shock as they probed the undergrowth. Along with 19 bags of rubbish, they made rather a more personal discovery… of some discarded underwear

The 50 volunteers clearing up around Chesham Bois, Buckinghamshire on Saturday were certainly in for a shock as they probed the undergrowth. Along with 19 bags of rubbish, they made rather a more personal discovery… of some discarded underwear!

Event coordinator John Bailey said: ‘We picked up the usual: food wrappers, car hub caps, bottles and cans – but our prize find was a set of men’s underpants and ladies knickers at seperate parts of the common… goodness knows what was going on for them to have been discarded!’

Happy families

Parents and pupils of Maidenbower Infants School joined members of the public in Crawley to clear up Maidenbower on Saturday

Up to 50 children armed with litter pickers joined the Great British Spring Clean in Maidenbower near Crawley, West Sussex. They joined mums, dads and other volunteers, collecting almost 60 bin bags of rubbish. The group also found some more unusual items including a pair of car headlights, a child’s scooter, traffic cones and – more predictably – a shopping trolley.

Hannah Witham, from The Brook School, said: ‘Little voices shout the loudest and hopefully all members of the community will learn something from our little people.’

Councillor Duncan Peck said: ‘It was a really excellent initiative and the children should be commended for being the driving force.’

This is really fun!

Brandon in Bloom and local runners team up to pick litter in Brandon country park, Suffolk

A dozen runners combined their love of exercise with care for the environment by picking up litter on one of their regular routes in Suffolk.

Members of the Brandon Fern Hoppers club collected 12 bags of rubbish and other items including an old double mattress, scrap metal, car parts, a suitcase and carpet offcuts on Saturday morning, after marshalling or taking part in the weekly 5km run around Brandon Country Park.

The youngest there were Louisa Silkstone, six, and brother Nathaniel, four. Louisa, who is a pupil at Forest Academy school in Brandon, said: ‘This is actually really fun. I want to get my own litter grabber now so I can do it again somewhere else.’

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Ryan’s Skips provide skip and tipper hire services for customers in Croydon, Epsom, Wimbledon, Bromley and Morden. Based in the London Borough of Beckenham, we have a great reputation with both private and business customers in all of these areas thanks to our tireless commitment to personal service. As a family-run business, friendliness and reliability are very much part of our culture.Having been in the industry for over 30 years, the Ryan’s Skips team are experts in the field of skip hire. We offer a wide range of standard skips with capacities of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 15 (cubic) yards. For larger waste removal jobs in and around the Beckenham area, we provide roll on/roll off hire in the shape of our 20 and 40-yard containers.Our 6 yard skips are our most popular, mostly due to the fact that they are suitable for waste removal jobs of small to intermediate sizes. If you are unsure which skip you need to remove your waste, please get in touch and a member of the Ryan’s Skips team will be more than happy to help. We also offer same day skip hire. Call us before 12 noon and have a skip delivered to site that very same day!Our grab hire and tipper hire service is ideal for removing gravel, tree cuttings, soil or even an old garden shed from your Beckenham property! Exact measurements and body types can vary between different tippers so please get in touch to discuss your requirements. Upon request, we can supply a trained driver to operate the tipper for you. This way, you get the work done quicker and save on manpower in the process. Local family business based in the Borough of Beckenham We serve domestic and commercial customers across South London More than three decades as the area’s premier skip hire firm Outstanding reputation for friendly and reliable customer service Large selection of standard-sized skips We also offer roll on/roll off hire and tippers for larger jobs Our company has a dedicated fleet of grab hire vehicles Same day delivery on orders made before 12pm f you need a skip hire firm for your domestic or commercial project in Beckenham or any of its surrounding areas, you’ve come to the right place! We provide a wide range of skips in sizes ranging from 2 to 20 cubic yards. We also provide roll on/roll off hire for industrial-sized waste removal requirements.Here at Ryan’s Skips in Beckenham, hiring a unit is easy. As long as you make your order before 12pm, we can deliver the skip of your choice to any site in the wider South or South West London areas very same day. We cover all surrounding locations including Croydon, Epsom, Bromley, Wimbledon and Morden.The smallest size we currently provide clients are 2 yard skips. These can fit around 15 bin liners and measure 1.5’ x 3’ x 2’. They’re ideal for everyday domestic use, for example if you’re replacing a garden path or replanting shrubs and turf.Our mini 4 yard skips are great for the removal of small amounts of domestic and commercial waste. If you are undertaking a small house clearance or a renovation project that creates waste equal to (or less than) 30 black bin liners, these skips are for you. Our larger 6 yard skips carry waste that is equivalent to 50 black bin liners, which makes them ideal for the majority of larger domestic projects in and around Beckenham.Our 15 yard skips are the largest of their kind and carry between 130 and 150 bags of waste. These skips are ideal for removing light commercial waste such as plasterboard, flooring, wood and plastic packaging. This makes our 15 yard skips a wise choice for large shop refurbishments in Beckenham and the wider South London area.To use any of our skips on public roads, you are required by law to obtain a permit from your local council. This will cost between £30 and £100 and may take between 7 and 14 days to be awarded. For this reason, we would recommend getting your application in as early as possible to prevent delays. As part of our extensive skip hire services, we offer to apply for your permit on your behalf.If you do wish to use one or more of our skips on public roads, we can supply you with the necessary health and safety equipment. We supply packages that include cones, reflectors and lights. We require a £30 deposit for this part of the service. We will return deposits to clients in Beckenham and South London at the end of the hire period. Ryan’s Skips is here to help. We provide roll on/roll off hire for customers in and around Beckenham who require something larger or more durable than one of our standard skips. Covering the surrounding areas of Croydon, Epsom, Morden, Wimbledon and Bromley, our company is the preferred choice for all hire requirements in South and South West London.Roll on/roll off hire is useful for the removal of many different types of industrial waste. If you need to dispose of large amounts of light waste, such as packaging or flooring from any site in the Beckenham area, our roll on roll off hire service may be exactly right for you.In fact, these containers can be used to dispose of practically any type of waste, particularly materials from shop fitting projects. They offer low-level access for easy loading, come equipped with lockable rear doors and are fully enclosed for your safety. Use our industrial waste containers to remove the following types of waste in and around Beckenham: Commercial and Industrial Construction and Demolition Heavy Wooden Frames All Other Types of Timber Heavy Duty, Non-Compactible Items Dry, Non-Hazardous Materials Recyclable Materials Permitted Liquid Waste Non Toxic Waste Skip and Container Sizes Our roll on/roll off hire containers and our skips come in a variety of different sizes, which we’ve detailed below. If you’re unsure which container will best fit your project, please get in touch before ordering to ensure you receive the right container for your needs. 6 yard – (Capacity approx. 50 bin liners) 8 yard – (Capacity approx.80 bin liners) 10 yard – (Capacity approx.90-100 bin liners) 12 yard – (Capacity approx.110-120 bin liners) 15 yard – (Capacity approx.130-140 bin liners) 18 yard – (Capacity approx.165-185 bin liners) 20 yard – (Capacity approx.200-220 bin liners) 30 yard – (Capacity approx.300-320 bin liners) 40 yard – (Capacity approx.400-420 bin liners) Please keep in mind that roll on/roll offs above 15 yard (15-40 yard) are only suitable for light waste.To get the best from our roll on/roll off hire service, please allow 5ft of extra space behind the delivery vehicle so that we can place the container without hindrance. Ryan’s Skips offers a professional grab and tipper hire service throughout Beckenham and the wider South London area. Use our grab-tipper vehicles to remove muck or to transport hardcore to and from your site. Clients in all surrounding areas, including Wimbledon, Bromley, Epsom, Croydon and Morden, can use our hire service.One of our grab and tipper hire trucks can carry as much waste as two of our builders skips. If you live or work in or around the Beckenham area and need to remove lots of waste quickly and without the need for a permit, this service is for you! We charge per load – you only pay for what we move Same day service on orders before 12 noon 5 metre reach allows us to load and unload material over walls and hoardings Easy offloading into dumpers Fast and efficient service complete inside 30 minutes No need to apply for a permit Accepts mixed loads from paper and timber to metal and plastics With the capacity to load waste and go, there is no waiting for skips to be changed. All you have to do is pile up the waste and we’ll collect it. Our fully qualified operators are always helpful. We take all steps necessary to ensure we leave your building site or garden completely free from waste. As licensed waste carriers, we dispose of your rubbish in the most responsible ways. In fact, we recycle as much collected waste as possible. We also supply recycled materials such as secondary aggregates, topsoil and crushed concrete. We take great pride in our ability to provide the right tipper hire vehicles at the right price, and at the right time, for our many customers in Beckenham and South London.If you need help and advice before choosing this service, please get in touch. Ryan’s Skips offer flexible short-term and long-term tipper hire contracts and we can tailor all services for your needs. We work with local councils, building contractors, housing developers and many other commercial organisations in the Beckenham area.

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Rubbish Removals London

Done with your home improvements or garden?

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