Over 13,500 people were out on the streets of Limerick city and county today, Friday 25th March to take part in the biggest one-day clean-up ever staged in Ireland.
This is the second year for the Team Limerick Clean-up initiative to be staged and last year’s event attracted over 10,000 volunteers.
Sponsored by the JP McManus Benevolent Fund, Team Limerick Clean-up2, (TLC2) is fronted by Paul O’Connell and was launched at the O’Connell Monument in Limerick today, where volunteers joined JP and Paul as they raised the starter flag to launch the countywide event.
Team Limerick Clean-up2 (TLC2) brought a diverse range of volunteers together including families, community groups, schools, residents’ associations, parishes, businesses and sports clubs from all over the county to clean-up their local area in a bid to make Limerick the tidiest and cleanest city in the country.
It is estimated that 50,000 bags of litter will have been collected on the day by the event partner, Mr Binman.
This year, tea/coffee gatherings for volunteers, neighbours and friends were hosted at over 100 locations throughout the county. These took place in people’s homes, community & sports centres and schools where over 5,000 people attended to celebrate their clean-ups.
Commenting at the launch today, TLC sponsor, JP McManus said; “We are delighted that Team Limerick Clean-up is taking place for the second consecutive year. The increase in numbers by over 3500 volunteers is testament to last year’s event and how much people wanted to get out to clean up their neighbourhoods and help make a difference. This year, we also have a huge interest in the tea/coffee gatherings hosted after the clean-ups which provide a great opportunity for neighbours and friends to catch up over a well-deserved cup of tea”
He concluded; “The entire event is a huge community effort from the people of Limerick and we want to thank each and every one of them for taking part.”
Paul O’Connell added: “It’s great to see so many hi-vis jackets dotted along the roads with people busy picking, brushing and cleaning their areas. It makes me very proud to be a Limerick man and to witness this clean-up event having grown from strength to strength in the space of 12 months. We have started the ball rolling with a simple concept and it’s really positive that other counties are following suit.”
The TLC initiative was sponsored by the JP McManus Benevolent Fund and was co-ordinated by Limerick City and County Council and kindly partnered by Limerick’s Live 95FM, The Limerick Leader and Mr Binman.