Clean up of the Mahon & Blackrock Amenity Walkway...

The Amenity Walkway in Mahon and Blackrock is one of the most popular spots in Cork City for running and walking as it's nice and quiet. This takes in the path next to the harbour as well as the old railway line and makes for a nice 5 mile loop.

If you are a regular user of this loop then please read below.

There is a Blackrock Clean-Up Group who meet at 10am on the second Saturday of every month and they help keep the paths tidy.

I went along last Saturday to get see what they did and how they're organised.

14th Dec 2019 - Blackrock Cleanup Group - 19 volunteers collected 35 bags of rubbish

A large group of 19 volunteers turned up at the car park near Blackrock Castle as shown above and all of the equipment needed in terms of vests, pickers, gloves and bags was supplied. It was very well organised with some groups heading over the Jacobs Island to clean that area, some doing the walkway and some tackling the shoreline.

The whole session lasts about 90 minutes and the group heads off for a cuppa afterwards for tea, coffee and a chat.

The map below shows the area they cover...

Green is the area they clean on a regular basis i.e. most months

Orange is the area they clean sometimes i.e. 50% of the time

Red is the area that is cleaned rarely i.e. once a year.

If they could get more volunteers then they would be able to cover a lot more of the walkway.

Why not volunteer??? ... If you are a regular user of the walkway then why not help out? You don't have to turn up every month. Commit to say four times a year or even twice a year. If enough people did this then it would make a huge difference.

It might be something for clubs to also consider. If you use a facility all year round then give something back by helping out.

For more info, have a look at the Blackrock Clean-Up Group on Facebook.