Meet the teenager inspiring Warrington's biggest ever litter pick
A TEENAGER has inspired a huge litter-picking event in Warrington.
The One Tonne Challenge created by teenager Thomas Morgan will see volunteers from Warrington collecting over a tonne of litter across the town on Saturday, 29 March.
Tarporley High School student Thomas wrote to Professor Steven Broomhead, chief executive of Warrington Borough Council, proposing the litter-picking event.
On the day, ten separate litter picks will take place featuring Thomas' One Tonne Challenge. In addition, 16 other litter collections will be held in locations across Warrington throughout the week.
All 26 litter picks are being organised by Warrington Litter Volunteers, supporting the national event led by the charity Keep Britain Tidy.
During the pandemic, Thomas wrote a letter to the First Sea Lord, Sir Ben Key, challenging the head of the Royal Navy to collect a tonne of plastic waste from the ocean, coastlines and waterways.
The Navy exceeded the goal and collected over 2.5 tonnes of waste from around the world, even venturing to Antarctica. This led to Thomas joining the effort at HMS Eaglet in Liverpool in the summer of 2023.
Following his success, he now works with local councils and organisations across the country to promote environmental awareness.
Most recently, Network Rail, Warrington Council, Shropshire Council, and Wirral Council have all collaborated with Thomas.
He also attended the Chester Zoo Youth Summit as an inspirational young changemaker, where he gave a guest talk on his environmental efforts.
When asked about where his passion for saving the environment came from, he described watching Octonauts (a children's TV programme) which first introduced him to marine biology when he was a toddler.
Thomas's motto is: 'Changing the world, one recycling item at a time.'
Thomas said: 'I want to make the challenge bigger and the more people who get involved, the better.
'I would like it to be internationally recognised, with organisations all over the world taking part.'
Thomas and his family are looking forward to attending the event to see the support his challenge has received.
Co-organiser of Warrington's Great British Spring Clean, Tony Dixon said: 'We've all found the One Tonne Challenge set by Thomas to be really inspirational.
'While we've held similar springtime litter picks in previous years, we're keen to see 2025 hit new heights, in terms of volunteer numbers and the amount of litter collected.'
To learn more or to book a place, contact: gbsc2025@gmail.com. Pre-booking is essential as places need to be reserved for safety reasons.
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