Bristol’s volunteer litter picker tidy up the local area every day

A man who cleans his area for free has been named a local hero on social media.

Andy Sherman, from Lawrence Weston, Bristol, has been cleaning up litter for his community every day for the past 10 years.

Mr Sherman mainly spends his time picking up rubbish, cleaning up mud and cleaning road signs which he says has kept him ‘busy’ and ‘mind active’.

Bristol City Council said it was “extremely grateful” to everyone who volunteers to help keep the city clean.

The retired volunteer said: “It’s something to do, the exercise is good and it keeps my mind active.

“Every day I go out there it’s fresh rubbish and it’s just picked up and taken away, which is a nice thing to do,” he said.

Mr Sherman said he believed the council should do the work but believed it lacked the funds.

Mr Sherman stressed he was not alone in helping his community, with “a lot of people doing it behind their backs” in Bristol like him.

“And if it wasn’t for the trash people, I couldn’t do it,” he said.

The volunteer said he was surprised by the amount of praise he received for his work.

“It seems strange when it goes viral, especially when you see it on the front page of the Evening Post.”

A Bristol City Council spokesman said: “We are extremely grateful to everyone who gives up their time to help keep the city clean and tidy.

“More than 3,800 volunteers have given their time to improve the city’s cleanliness over the past year.

“We have worked with Bristol Waste to support this by providing litter pickers, high visibility vests and collecting bags of waste and recycling, including during the Great Bristol Spring Clean which took place between 5 April and 6 May 2024 and 1,527 volunteers participated. collecting garbage around the city.

“Over the last few months we have been responding to requests from local residents and working with Bristol Waste to improve street cleaning around Lawrence Weston.”