Six-year-old girl from Bognor Regis raises nearly £900 for her Rainbows group after five hour litter pick

Poppy has always been fanatical about litter picking. So much so that, on her fourth birthday, she begged her mum Emily for a litter picker, after seeing volunteers scouring Bognor Regis beach, tidying up rubbish.

“It’s really sweet,” Emily explained. “Ever since she was little, she was funny about seeing rubbish: she’d see it in the car, or on the street, or she’d pick it up to throw it away if we were on a walk. She just really hated seeing litter on the floor. And then one day, we saw a group of people litter-picking one day and she asked what they were doing, and what tool they were using. I explained it, and she was just obsessed with the idea; it went straight on the birthday list.”

So, when Poppy joined her local Rainbows unit a few months ago and started working towards her 'helpers’ badge, it was clear what she had to do.

"We both had a lightbulb moment. We realised we could raise money for her whole unit by litter-picking, by doing something she really enjoys.”

Neither Poppy or her mum could have guessed what would happen once they started the fundraiser. Instead of the £100 they were hoping for, donations came flooding in from all over the community. Before she knew it, Poppy had raised £865 for the Rainbows group – almost ten times more than her original target.

That made her already-ambitious five hour litter pick, which she completed on January 21, that much more of an achievement, and mum Emily is justifiably proud: “She’s blown us all away. I always knew how she was about litter-picking, but I never thought she’d want to do it for five hours, but it was her idea. We’re so proud of her. It’s such a strong passion she’s got, and we don’t know where it’s come from.”The money, which will be presented to The Rainbow group next month, could be spent on any number of projects, including outings and activities for the girls.