2022
The initial intro is going to read like an intro to a story (local story).
Through Ermest's Local Guides Cleaning the World project I adopted an area that was never well-maintained in the past and I would often hurry past as the pavement was always drink-stained and littered with used crisp and food packaging.
I did my first Cleaning the City Day Meetup at the beginning of January 2019 and friends couldn't make it as it was either a day they were working or just couldn't make it, so I did a 1-person cleaning act which turned out to be well received. Commuters would smile and acknowledge what I was doing was a 'worthy cause'. Or maybe they smiled because they thought the local council should be keeping this area as 'spruced' up as other parts of the area.
5 January 2019 onwards: Roadworks were underway; a cleaning car drove past on the day I did the first Cleaning Day Meetup and the pavement seemed less darkened with stains than before.
6-7 January 2019: Emailed the local council to get the go-ahead to clean my adopted area for half an hour. Still no reply to say whether that is fine or not.
12 March 2019: I did my 2nd Cleaning the City Day 1-person act but this time only a quarter of the area I have adopted to keep well-maintained, as I didn't want to get in the way of pedestrians. Very noticeable though was the area itself was nicely 'cleaned' already - although there remains chewing gum stuck to the ground by the seating area, at the far corner edge of the bus shelter, away from where the bus usually stops.
At my first approved Meetup on St Patrick's Day, I had my:
Local Guides Cleaning the City folder
A garden ornament to represent my St Patrick's Day celebration
A coffee and carrot cake from the cafe - were both too good to eat and drink! 😂
I posted my Meetup date on Facebook and my blog as well as let the local nature conservation organiser know (but the day before). Friends and colleagues didn't respond so whilst I was there, I spent some time preparing for something else and also decided my next Meetup will be at a nature conservation event where Local Guides can speak to someone about ongoing events.
The photos at my Meetup are found here:
https://goo.gl/maps/VSc9s2YMQj72
I also now co-run a WhatsApp group for Local Guides which inspires and encourages our LG family group to be the best they can be and be inspired to build up their community to make their country feel 'proud' of their efforts in letting the world know how wonderful their community is and why it should be on everyone's 'to visit places'.
Local Guides are a very important aspect of our consumer and tourist industry and should be treated with the respect we deserve. Some choose to review places and restaurants to help customers make decisive choices - which is important in this day and age where the cost of living keeps going up and restaurants have become more expensive, so even just a coffee, no matter the cost, should be of a standard that justifies the cost.
More importantly, all restaurants and cafes should provide their staff with the very minimum:
- gloves when handling food
- hair nets to be worn at all times
- on no account should cashiers handle food
- if cashiers scratch their face and hair, they have to wash their hands before handling food
- everyone entering the kitchen after using the bathroom, have to wash their hands in a small hands-only wash basin on re-entering the kitchen
Money doesn't grow on trees, as they say!
Summary:
The area I have adopted now looks 100% better than in the past - a massive thank you to Local Guides Connect in showing me ways to help build the community by being a Local Guide within a Local Guide community.
