Young Luton litterpickers raise over £500 for Appledown Rescue and Rehoming Kennels

Two kind-hearted Luton siblings spent their school holidays litter picking to raise money in memory of their beloved pet dog, Lola.

Blake and Poppy Hewett aged ten and six respectively, used their Easter break to raise awareness about the environment and raise money for Appledown Rescue and Rehoming Kennels, Eaton Bray.

The determined duo's litter pick raised £570 for the charity, and the children were inspired to help animals in need because of Lola's very own story.

Their proud mum, Heather Hewett, explained: "In lockdown unfortunately we lost Lola, who was a rescue dog. Blake and Poppy wanted to do something to help other rescue dogs, so that's why they chose Appledown.

"They had also both done work within the Beavers and Cubs to learn about the environment and we'd been going for walks during lockdown and kept saying how dirty everywhere was, so that gave us the idea to clean up.

"Blake and Poppy collected over 30 bin bags of rubbish and I think they did fantastically well!"

The children cleared litter from the town's streets, parks and woodlands, with the most common types of rubbish being beer cans, Red Bull cans and face masks.

They picked litter every single day of the holidays (apart from Blake's birthday) and were recently invited to Appledown Rescue and Rehoming Kennels to meet some of the dogs as a thank you.

Paying tribute to their own dog, Lola, who died aged 13, Heather said: "She was great with kids; they were really close to her. Poppy loved bathing her and Blake liked to cuddle up with her and watch the football.

"If you'd had a bad day you could always cuddle Lola."

Heather added: "We drove all the way to Wales to get her. She was gorgeous looking and just looked so sad. It was thought that she'd been left there because of the recession - people were losing their houses.

"But we gave her a loving family home."

Blake and Poppy are now continuing their environmentally friendly mission and have two new goals.

The pair are collecting crisp packets to raise funds for an air ambulance charity, as well as collecting empty pill packets to be recycled at Superdrug.

Mum Heather, dad Adrian, and 'Nanny' Christine Cason, supported the litter pick and are all very proud of Blake and Poppy's efforts - and we're sure that Lola would be wagging her tail in agreement.

If you would like to donate to Appledown Rescue and Rehoming Kennels, please visit: http://appledownrescue.co.uk/