'Love where you live': Inspirational volunteer wants to inspire others to keep Oldham clean

Salehuddin Talukdar, 38 from the Coldhurst area of Oldham arrived in the UK in 2009 from Bangladesh and started litter-picking in 2015.

He said: “When I started, I would pick rubbish on my own and with my friends from other parts of Oldham such as Failsworth. I would assist them and they would assist me.

“We recently cleaned Grange all weather pitch which is part of our ongoing initiative called MyColdhurst.

“We have been part of MyColdhurst from the beginning and it takes place monthly, but was stopped due to the pandemic.

“There were nine people involved in the litterpick on Sunday 3 July, including some inspirational people who joined us.”

“There are so many good people who just need to be motivated. More than 15 bags of rubbish were collected.

“A lot of young people are involved in the initiative as a lot of volunteers bring their children to the litter picks. I involve my three children as and when I can."

Salehuddin said he was keento promote cleanliness in the Bangladeshi community. 

Salehuddin said: "We want to promote litter picking and have been encouraged by others to do so. Initially, we bought 40 litter pickers and managed to raise £1000.

“We want to build a bridge between British born Bangladeshis with Bangladeshi born Britons.  I am an ambassador for Keep Britain Tidy.

“On 15 August we plan to walk from Oldham to Manchester to raise awareness about cleanliness and litter picking.

“I am the first Bangladeshi from Oldham who is involved with Keep Britain tidy and want to inspire the young and old.

“The Grange weather pitch is in such a bad state, as it has become a dumping ground for rubbish and broken glass."

He said during clean ups his fellow volunteers found thousands of glass pieces, broken wine and spirit glasses, cigarette packets, cans, large objects such as super market trollies, beds, plastic items and hazardous materials.

Salehuddin added: "This is such a shame as we see a lot of young people hang around there and sometimes play football there.

“The weather pitch is full of hazards and not safe at all.  We urge local residents, the local council and other agencies to come forward and do something about it.  

"This is not a one day or a one man job and a group of people with well equipped cleaning gear is needed to make this place clean and safe again. It was very sad for us seeing this as it has many uses.

“This is the starting point for the campaign to get this place back to what it was, please come forward and make Coldhurst a clean and safe place to live in.  Love where you live, love  Coldhurst, love Oldham.”