The Port Tidy Tribe is a local litter-picking group which visits different areas around Ellesmere Port and prevents litter. Rosie, Maggie and I have gone along twice to litter pick with the group.
Maggie and I had interviewed Cllr Kris Fisher, the founder of the group, and this is what we found out. Kris had started the tidy tribe in his own ward earlier this year, as he saw that litter was starting to affect the local area. He soon realised that other parts of Ellesmere Port were far worse affected by litter, so he needed to do something about it. As per Kris' promise, made on the 2nd October 2025, he said that he will 'work hard to tackle littering and fly-tipping'. He had also promised that The Tidy Tribe would keep our streets safe and clean, and this promise has been fulfilled.
The litter picking group meets 'now and then', it is not on set days. He says that when the team meet up, they target places that have a litter problem. Rosie, Maggie and I attended the litter pick in Rossmore and Great Sutton, where we could see how hard the team works to stop and prevent the debris. Kris says that with working with the council, they can get all the litter and fly tipping collected. This is an incredible way to look after your environment.
The founder of the group says that if you would like to help out the Tidy Tribe, you can follow them on Facebook to find out where and when the next meet-up is. There are 'a lot of people who come along that haven't done anything before', but the great thing about the group is that we work together, and try to help each other tackle the waste.
The councillor of Strawberry Ward says he hopes that he can get all areas of Ellesmere Port covered, especially areas near the town centre and those that have been neglected by local residents.
When I went along, I got to see firsthand what type of litter the group found. Mayor of Ellesmere Port, Cllr Katie Kendrick OBE, told us that energy drinks are a massive problem, especially with the youth at the moment. We found a lot of Monster cans. Research says that if somebody under 18 has a monster, they can harm the child's mental and physical health, which is an important topic to Katie, as she is a paediatric nurse and gets to see the effects for herself.
Another huge problem in these two areas was nitrous oxide canisters, better known as laughing gas. At the Rossmore litterpick, I had climbed into a bush and must have got about 50 out, just in that area alone. The massive problem with the Nitrous Oxide is that the council cannot dispose of it. Usually, the council pick up the litter and drops it off at the waste centre, but this particular item can not be disposed of in that way. Councillors currently have many of these canisters, either in their cars or, as somebody said, in their shed, from litter picks. This is a massive problem in the area and definitely needs to be cracked down on.
Rosie, Maggie and I enjoyed our time litter picking with the Tidy Tribe, and we cannot wait to go back and get stuck in again!