Boy, 11, secures new bin for 'messy' Paisley street

Thomas Kerr was struck by the amount of rubbish he found lying on the pavement whilst litter picking in the short distance between his school and local corner shop. 

The 11-year-old was sure something could be done and with the help of his teacher, he wrote to his local Councillor Anne Hannigan requesting a bin to be installed on Brediland Road. 

Anne and Thomas (Image: Supplied)

“We were thinking about why there was so much litter, and it was confusing that there were four bins on one side but none on the other,” said his teacher, Kathleen O’Neill. 

“Thomas likes maths, he likes problem-solving so it’s more than just seeing there’s an error for someone else to go fix, it’s like 'what can we do?'

"Thomas thought 'why can’t we have another bin' and we got a great response." 

Councillor Hannigan said: “It was such a pleasure to open my emails and see one from the school. 

“It was just a really beautifully done graph with a lovely accompanying letter, very professional. 

“It told me all about Thomas' litter pick and his idea that if there was an additional bin it might make things a little less messy up there and I was just so impressed.

“A very impressive young man, it really made my day. In fact, more than my day, it was the best day I’ve ever had since I’ve been a councillor."

(Image: Supplied)

Anne quickly got to work and contacted the relevant people to see if anything could be done.

“They thought the case presented by Thomas was so strong that they were happy to immediately authorise a bin,” she said.

“Not only that but they felt that he should choose where the bin went.”

Attending Brediland Primary’s Flexible Learning Resource department, Thomas is very happy to already see the impact the bin is having on litter in the area and seemingly on people’s habits.  

Excited at the prospect of moving to high school after the summer holidays, Thomas hopes it comes with more opportunities to help with local issues. 

Teacher Katheleen spoke of how important it is for kids to see themselves making a difference in the community. 

She said: “There are a lot of problems and I think sometimes it can feel like there’s too much and there’s nothing we can do about it.

“But actually, there are lots of small things that we can do that can make an impact. I think Thomas can see that from the lack of litter we saw today. 

“To see that come to fruition and have that kind of impact I think that will be quite lasting for them."

Thomas and his classmates were far from winding down as they approached the summer holidays, and the end of their primary education. 

“They’re a very impressive bunch, they’re just back from Edinburgh, they were at a national awards ceremony for an enterprise project,” said Kathleen.

“They are a champion enterprise; they got an award last year and they’ve built on that. 

“Kate Forbes was in attendance; she was the speaker so that was a nice day out in Edinburgh which was great."