November Mother’s Group Challenge

What is the Mother’s Group Challenge?

Mothers can and do make a difference in the lives of those around them every day. In our experience groups of mothers can make a BIG difference and so the inspiration behind the Mother's Group Challenge is... you! Each month we will plan a Mother's Group Challenge that you can choose to take up. Bear in mind that it's not meant to be done alone, so grab your mummy's group buddies and get it happening together!

Who
So far, we’ve sent nappies to children with HIV/AIDS in Thailand, cloth pads to the women of PNG and prepared care packs for Aussie foster kids. Your Mother's Group Challenge for November 2011 is somewhat closer home! This month, it’s something relatively simple. Something that the kids can really get involved in and something that will affect them directly.

What
About 2 years ago, the local council erected a lovely little play equipment set at a park just 5 minutes’ walk from our house. It was fabulous! We went there everyday and enjoyed the luxury of a fabulous fun park close to home. About 1 week after the park was completed, we arrived there to find that the slippery dip had been written on (in language too foul for our humble blog!) and a mess of empty beer bottles had been strewn about. We called the local council to complain but it took nearly 2 weeks for them to clean it up. In retrospect, I should have just taken a pair of gloves and a plastic bag and done the clean-up myself! That’s what we’re doing in November…

How

Rubbish
Grab yourself a pair of gardening or rubber gloves and a pair for the kids. Supervise closely as they pick up the rubbish at your local park. Watch for glass and other sharps! If your park is seriously trashed, I wouldn’t recommend this, but often it’s just a few empty chip packets and some drink bottles that need to be removed.

Graffiti
Don’t wait for your local council to do their annual graffiti removal routine! Now it’s true, a lot of graffiti is not easily removed without the use of toxic industrial cleaning agents! So save that for the council… but if most of your graffiti is the permanent marker type, nail polish remover works a treat!

Encouragement
Encourage your local teens to use the park in the evenings but to clean up after themselves. You can do this by laminating an A4 sheet welcoming everyone to enjoy the swings and slide (even 15 year olds love those monkey bars!) but asking them to please refrain from using the park as a chalk board and to take their rubbish with them. If there is no rubbish bin close by, ask your council to provide one. If your laminated A4 sheet disappears, ask the council to provide a tin sign with words to the same affect. I used to work with teenagers - you might be surprised how well they respond to the words ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’. And they really are quite happy to keep the place clean when they are reminded that it is used by babies and toddlers.

When
NOW! This month. Resolve to do this sometime during November 2011. Whether you get together once a week, once a fortnight or only once a month; make sure you do it this month. There is no better time for action that today. We would love to see your local park spruced up and ready for some summer fun!

Why
Because this is something we can do! It’s a great way to teach children social responsibility. Leading by example is the only way children learn well. And children who have been asked to pick up rubbish that is not theirs (out of respect for everyone) will be less inclined to throw their own rubbish on the ground.

WHO'S IN?? Let us know how your group decides to tackle the challenge, share your ideas and post before and after photos of your local park!