Just imagine if on every street in Thornton Heath residents picked up litter outside their home and put it in their bin?

Now we rely so much on the council but in the past residents used to take pride and keep the paths outside their homes swept clean.

Bringing back that spirit are street action champions who are helping to help transform our neighbourhoods.

The Thornton Heath Community Action Team was successful in a bid for £26,028 for the two year street improvement project which is being funded by the People’s Health Trust. The Street Action project is focusing on developing street teams of residents in 20 specified roads in Thornton Heath and has already identified the first phase which will focus on 10 streets.

Here street leader Mary Cameron explains how on  Quadrant Road the community is joining together to make a difference.

“A small committee has formed to try and galvanise the residents to participate in some proposed improvements. All the households in the streets were invited to put forward their ideas and some excellent suggestions were put forward. Litter is a major problem due to many people passing through from Brigstock Road to other local roads. We have suggested that if each resident picks up litter they find outside their own house and put it in their own bin the street will be kept much cleaner.

“Many residents have taken this on board. W e have also started a petition to make the road a one-way system with Brook Road because of the constant traffic jams both in Quadrant Road and to a lesser extent, in Brook Road. So far this has proved to very popular and we are well on the way to submitting the petition to the council for approval.

“Other projects in the pipeline are a street planter which will be planted with flowers and cared for by local residents and a mosaic on a wall which has, in the past, been an area for fly tipping. We hope that, by making our street more attractive, people passing through will respect it and be less likely to dump their rubbish here.”

Meanwhile on Melfort Avenue residents have combined forces to get an alley gate installed to combat fly tipping.