A FAMILY of Roma immigrants are spearheading the Clean Up Derby campaign after a plea from community activists.
The family of six have been sweeping pavements and delivering leaflets encouraging other people to keep Derby tidy.
Husband and wife Miroslav Mroc and Eva Conkova moved to this country from the Czech Republic in 2005.
Mr Mroc was approached by campaigner Dawn Gee who was trying to encourage people to keep Vincent Street in Normanton clean and tidy.
He and his family mucked in with enthusiasm, despite concerns being expressed in the past that the growing number of Roma families making their home in Normanton had led to an increasing fly tipping problem.
Mr Mroc, 34, who is from Slovakia, said: "Sometimes when people move here they have come from villages and suddenly living in a town is very different.
"There's also a language barrier and some people aren't sure to do with their rubbish. It's also a cultural problem. If people understand what to do with their rubbish they will do it."
Mr Mroc is a trained butcher. He said he had worked in a number of jobs since arriving in the UK but is currently looking for work after being made redundant six months ago.
He said: "I don't want to live in mess, nobody does."
Mrs Gee, who started the successful community group Carlisle Avenue Against Crime in Littleover, is now an active member of a group of volunteers who have worked for the past two-and-a-half years raising awareness of fly tipping in the area and demanding council action to tackle the issue.
The group carry out weekly walkabouts to check on issues.
Mrs Gee said: "The Normanton Empowerment Team is currently running a campaign on Vincent Street called 'Respect Vincent Street'.
"We plan to turn this street around, clean it up and bring back to being respectable."
Mrs Gee said that, while delivering these leaflets with her husband, Gary, they met Mr Mroc and his family.
She said: "The family had their front garden piled high with rubbish. We offered to help them bag it all up and then show them where to dump it at the tip.
"We spent the whole afternoon with them, bought them a brush, took them to the tip, dumped their rubbish and when their front was swilled with disinfectant, rewarded them with a wall planter of flowers.
"This family were waiting for their landlord to move the rubbish, which was agreed a long time ago.
"I spoke to the landlord and explained what we were doing and asked for his support by visiting the property to deal with the blocked alleyway which he said he would do.
"This family have agreed to help us with the campaign and promise to sweep in front of their own house regularly and keep their front clear of rubbish.
"They have also asked if they can help us. The group are offering support to people who are struggling with their front gardens and the Roma family will be helping clear up after hedges have been trimmed."
In a previous story we reported that Jack Twomey, team leader for the environmental protection department at the council, said the waste culture in Normanton and Arboretum was "pretty poor". The council was developing cards with all the different languages spoken in to show to people how to properly use the bins.
In the first week of its campaign, the Normanton Empowerment Team and Mr Mroc's family have cleared rubbish and weeds from the street.
Mrs Gee said: "We are asking residents and landlords to get behind this campaign, keep the front of their house well presented, don't walk over litter in front of their house, pick it up and put it in the bin.
"If we all take responsibility for the section in front of our own house, the street will be much better kept."
