Cousins raise £2.6k in battle against Gosfield litter

Alexa Bacon, eight, and Rosie Mills, nine, spent March walking a combined 100 miles for charity.

Alexa, from Gosfield, and Rosie, from Oxfordshire, raised a whopping £2,640 for the Rewilding Britain charity and racked up 130 miles between them.

The cousins are both keen on environmentalism and during their month of walks they picked up any litter they could find.

Alexa and Rosie were inspired to protect local wildlife following an eye-opening trip to Canada and watching David Attenborough documentaries.

Despite being separated by more than 100 miles due to the pandemic, the duo, who call themselves Team Chipmunk, managed to clear an impressive amount of litter.

Alexa, who squeezed in extra litter picking on her way to St Margaret’s Prep School, in Gosfield, found bottles, plastic bags, cans and even old boots while on her walks around the village.

The rubbish was sorted before being sent away for recycling.

Proud mum Amy Bacon said: “Over the month of March the girls have walked over 130 miles tackling rain, hail, cold, wild winds, late walks and early starts, and kept it up even when tired or not feeling like it.

“They have shown tremendous grit and determination to achieve their goal.

“The volume of litter they gathered over a relatively short time period on mainly quiet and rural footpaths is absolutely incredible and saddening in equal measure.”

“We are tremendously proud of these inspirational little people for fighting hard for a cause they believe in and making a difference.

“They really hope their efforts will inspire others and show them that we all (no matter how big or small) have the ability to improve the world around us, everyone has the ability to make a small change to make big things happen.

“They would love to say an enormous ‘thank you’ for all the messages of support that they have received and are very excited to see the projects that Rewilding Britain have in store for the money that they have raised.”