Royal Navy veteran litter picking in Denmead for charity raises hundreds of pounds to help fellow others retired from the Armed Forces

Debs Carson, 59, has been litter picking near her home while being sponsored in aid of two veterans charities.

The fundraising project grew from the six months she spent last year litter picking in Denmead, when she collected one and a half tonnes of rubbish from the roadside in her local area - enough to fill an eight cubic metre skip.

She said: ‘I got fed up seeing the litter so I thought I’d go out and clear up, and six months later I stopped, with one and a half tonnes and eight cubic metres.

‘We’re talking about years and years of stuff - nobody had ever done it to the degree that we did it.’

Now Debs is collecting litter again as she raises funds for veterans charities Turn to Starboard and The Not Forgotten.

She said: ‘So far I’ve raised £430 - I put my target at £500, but I’ll continue until June and it looks like we’ll exceed the target.

‘Kassia are sponsoring the binbags. I’ve got another local company providing the skips.’

Debs - who completes the litter picks with a friend - says that she enjoys doing the litter picking, and likes ‘being out in the fresh air’.

Starting at Anmore Road, Debs is litter picking right up to the parish boundary, removing every scrap of rubbish she can reach.

She has made some very surprising discoveries, finding items such as £25 cash and a ‘very realistic concrete tortoise’ that has now been adopted by someone in the village’.

SEE ALSO: Royal Navy welcomes new Second Sea Lord during ceremony in Portsmouth

Debs, who has lived in Denmead for three years, said: ‘Turn to Starboard is about helping wounded, injured, or sick veterans. £200 pays for them to put someone through their day skipper course - they can take that on, even to commercial qualifications, and progress their future through sailing.

‘You might just be helping one person to help them in their life.

‘The same applies to The Not Forgotten, although they have a slightly different target audience.

‘All through lockdown they’ve gone round and done music and entertainment shows at care homes where there are veterans. It helps towards that.’

To find out more, or to donate, visit gofund.me/82ddb3b5.

Last year, Debs took part in an epic 2,000 mile adventure as she completed the ‘Long Way Up’ sailing expedition from Land’s End to John O’Groats and back as part of a 50-strong team of fellow Armed Forces veterans.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.