Seven-year-old does clean-up to protect wildlife in Braywick Park

A seven-year-old boy has been thanked by his community for picking up litter around Braywick Park using a litter picker he requested for Christmas.

Ryan Davies, who attends Braywick Court School, became interested in the impact of litter on the environment after being taught about it in school.

Out walking with his family, Ryan noticed there was a lot of rubbish lying around.

“What I’ve really been concerned about is glass on the rugby pitches,” said Ryan. “It’s the animals that will get hurt, and the more animals that die, the more people there will be than animals.”

He asked for litter pickers for himself and everyone in his family for Christmas, so they could tackle the problem together. On their first litter run the family picked up three full bags of rubbish.

“Every time he goes out now, he takes his litter picker with him,” said Ryan’s mother Michelle. “There are a lot of masks lying around, which he is rather disgusted by.”

After Braywick Court School tweeted about Ryan’s good deeds, Leisure Focus (which runs Braywick Leisure Centre) sent Ryan a certificate in recognition, as well as a free family swim pass.

“He’s a little bit shocked his efforts have caused such a stir,” said Michelle.