Students set to clean up the streets of Sunderland

Sunderland College students to take part in a Sunderland City Centre clean up and paint project.

Up to 3,000 young people from Sunderland College, will be making their mark on the city by tidying up the place over three days, starting on Wednesday.

The students have been called in to revamp the city with cleaning, litter picking and painting.

Litter picking will be in full swing as part of a big clean up project.

One of the biggest tasks will be completely transforming the Park Lane outdoor market units ready for small traders to operate there in the run-up to Christmas.

The units, the majority of which are empty, will be stripped out, cleaned and repainted.

The project, called 100 Quick Wins, will see at least 100 jobs done to spruce up the city, and is a joint scheme involving, Sunderland’s Business Improvement District (BID), Sunderland College and Sunderland Council.

Tasks including the painting of shutters, weeding and litter picking will be undertaken by the college students and staff across the three days, while the council focus on some of the bigger tasks at hand.

The initiative hopes to highlight the ongoing regeneration of the city centre, building local pride and a sense of awareness about the importance of keeping the city centre looking good.

Among those preparing for the hard work are BTec art and design students, Emily Thompson, 19, and Jessica Houghton, 16, who will be taking part in the Park Lane market re-vamp.

Emily said: “It should be a good event.”

And Jessica added: “It will be a great way to showcase our artwork.”

Kirsty Currie, executive director of BID, said: “We already have lots of people lined up for the units for Christmas, with crafts and gifts.

“Following on from this we hope to get people using them and we have had a lot of interest.”

Jane Reed, Sunderland College’s director of digital, creative and business, who is leading the project, said: “It is a good opportunity for the students to get involved in something like this. It will give them a great sense of pride.”

Running from October 18-20, a range of products and equipment are needed to help make 100 Quick Wins a success and the hope is the city will support the call.

Any firms which wish to lend or donate items of equipment, or see the full list of what is required, should email [email protected].