Chester’s unique rows have been given a spring clean by volunteers from the CH1ChesterBID, city centre businesses and Cheshire West and Chester Council. More than 30 volunteers took part in the clean up over the weekend, organised by the BID as part of Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean campaign.
On Friday, a team of Cheshire West and Chester council officers, including council leader Sam Dixon, put on their rubber gloves and tackled Bridge St Rows, removing cob webs and chewing gum and mopping up assorted debris.
On Sunday a second team made up of staff from city centre retailers including Marks & Spencer and Wilko and the BID team repeated the cleaning effort on Eastgate row. Caffe Nero and Greggs supported the volunteers with free hot drinks.
City Centre Manager Nick White said: “It’s fantastic to see everyone coming together to give our historic Rows an early spring clean. Every year the Great British Spring Clean inspires people to volunteer their time for local clean-ups and we’re really pleased to bring this national campaign to Chester and create a clean and welcoming environment for city visitors and local residents.
“The Rows are a crucial part of Chester’s history and I’d like to thank everybody who gave up their time, particularly the local Healthy High Streets team who put in such a sterling effort and Wilko and Cheshire West and Chester Council for providing the cleaning equipment over the weekend.”
Council Leader, Councillor Samantha Dixon said: ‘We were delighted to participate in this clean-up and enjoyed working closely with CH1ChesterBID and our other city centre partners. Our street cleaners work tirelessly to clean the city so this clean-up was really about adding even more sparkle to one of Chester’s most iconic features.
“Chester’s history is one of the city’s unique selling points, with particular architectural and social heritage merit, so it’s really important that together we do everything we can to look after it and make sure it’s looking its best all year-round. What is often forgotten is that many people live above the Rows so I’m sure the local residents will have been pleased to see the spring clean.”
Further clean up events for Northgate and Watergate Rows are scheduled to take place later this month, with CH1ChesterBID working closely with Chester’s local Healthy High Streets team, which aims to revitalise high streets and engage large businesses in their local communities.
Hannah O’Sullivan, Charity & Community Coordinator at Wilko, said: “As a family run business, supporting great work in our communities is at the heart of what we do at Wilko, helping to cement our place within the local communities we serve and enabling hard working families to be the best they can be. We’re extremely proud of our team members for all the hard work they have put in for the Chester Healthy High Street Programme.”
The Chester blog 