Achieving change together — one bottle at a time — was the aim of the Hamilton Parish residents Saturday morning when they rolled up their sleeves and set to cleaning up the mess left behind by others.

Approximately 80 residents of different ages and different backgrounds but the same commitment to their neighbourhoods, joined forces for a parish-wide clean up under the Hamilton Parish PACT (Parishes Achieving Change Together) umbrella.

Volunteers included families, friends and the Hot Peppers Youth Soccer team who used the opportunity to raise money for their soccer programme.

The clean up, supported by the Departments of Parks and Fisheries and Keep Bermuda Beautiful, netted huge piles of rubbish from the sea shore, road side shrubbery and blind spots behind bus stops.

In total two tons of regular garnage and 150 bags of recycable items were collected.

In addition, driftwood, abandoned buoys and discarded motorbikes were retrieved from the points where the thoughtless had thrown them.

Areas covered included the Bailey's Bay beaches, the Railway Trail from Duck's Puddle to Shelly Bay, stretches of North Shore Road from My Lord's Bay to Coney Island, Trinity Church and Harrington Sound Roads and the Sleepy Hollow, Summit Hill and Cottage Hill areas.

Following the three-hour clean up, volunteers gathered at the Hamilton Parish Workmen's Club for lunch sponsored by several local businesses, including Shelly Bay Pizza House, Causeway Shell, The MarketPlace, the Grotto Bay Beach hotel, SAL, Swizzle Inn, Butterfield & Vallis and Crow Lane Bakery.

While enjoying hot dogs, sandwiches, pizza and other snacks, adults chatted and young people took up an impromptu game of tennis-ball cricket.

Neighbours who had until then not known each other or acquaintances who had not realised they were neighbours, introduced themselves and strengthened the sense of community that has been established at previous clean ups, volunteer reading programmes and town hall meetings organised by PACT to address issues in the parish.

Anyone wishing to learn more about PACT or opportunities to be involved in positive youth development in Hamilton Parish can contact Richard Winchell at Richard.winchell@srsmail.com or telephone 292-7746.