Volunteers' Week 2022: Litter-picker Tom says Eco-Action has Helped him on the Road to Recovery

Tom Gosling, 35, from Sawtry, Cambridgeshire, has actively set up several litter picking groups throughout Cambridgeshire since he started volunteering in September 2020. He first started volunteering to aid his recovery from mental health challenges and has since engaged more than 200 people in litter-picking action. 

He has united individuals, groups, businesses and organisations to tackle the common problem of litter and raise awareness of it.

Volunteering Week takes place from 1 to 7 June every year, and is a chance to recognise the fantastic contribution volunteers like Tom make to our communities and thank them.

Tom’s volunteering journey began when he seeing his local council, Huntingdonshire District Council, advertising a district Big Clean and looking for local support in surrounding areas.

He appealed to locals to join him via a village social media page and was overwhelmed with the response.

Tom says his lifelong passion for the environment and the effects of litter was a “great motivation” to start volunteering his time to this cause and ‘turning thoughts to action’.

He regularly receives feedback on how people within the community have benefited from meeting new people and keeping active, and speaks to local schools regarding the impact of littering and the difference volunteer litter picking can make.

He says: “Volunteering is my life.

“Suffering from mental health issues, with the bulk being manic depression, volunteering has given me a purpose and made me feel I have contributed, gaining self-worth.

“I have expanded my friendship network, meeting people from all walks of life who have unknowingly acted as a support bubble in my darkest of times.

“Litter picking has given me a release, a point of focus outside home and work. Without litter picking I fear my previous addictions would have taken over, and my depression heightened with potentially fatal results. It has kept me active which has clear physical health benefits.”

Tom reiterates these benefits to followers of his online ‘Rubbish Road to Recovery’ blog.

Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive Allison-Ogden-Newton, said: “Tom’s story is nothing short of inspiring and remarkable.

“His journey is living proof of the varied ways volunteering can enrich people’s lives.

“We want to thank Tom and all of our #LitterHeroes volunteers and volunteer judges who protect our environment and wildlife, help our green and blue spaces to thrive and who make our charity the vibrant and dedicated organisation it is today.

Volunteers’ Week is supported and celebrated by small grassroots organisations as well as larger, household-name charities, who together run hundreds of activities across the UK. These activities showcase and celebrate volunteers and the contribution volunteering makes in our communities.