The Neighbourhood Environmental Teams (NETs) service, run by Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership (DGHP), was launched in July last year.

So far, over 1070 tonnes of waste have been lifted and nearly 8300 stairwells cleaned. The NETs have also worked on more than 1600 gardens over the past 12 months.

As well as transforming neighbourhoods across the region, it has also created 58 new jobs - including nine apprenticeships and nine Changing Lives trainee placements - with 45 members of the team gaining professional qualifications in land-based and environmental work.

One young woman from Stranraer who has secured one of the jobs created is 17-year-old Charlie Palmer. Charlie first joined Wheatley Group when she was 16. In recent weeks, she has secured a full-time post with the NETs at DGHP ahead of completing her apprenticeship at Dumfries and Galloway College. 

She said: “Originally I wanted to be a joiner. Then I saw the opportunity for the apprenticeship with Wheatley Group and I gave it a try. The people I work with are really great and being out in the communities is what I really enjoy.

“People often tell us ‘you’ve made a big difference’. That makes the work really worthwhile and helps you realise you are improving people’s lives and communities.”

The creation of an environmental team across the region was a commitment made to tenants by DGHP when it became part of Wheatley, Scotland’s leading housing, care and property-management group.

Alan Glasgow, managing director of DGHP, added: “We are very proud to be celebrating one year of the NETs in Dumfries and Galloway. It’s a great example of how we have been able to improve communities while also creating job and training opportunities people in the area.

“We’re all really pleased to have Charlie join us. She very quickly became a popular member of the team and has thrown herself into all the projects we have been delivering in communities across the south-west of Scotland.

“Our teams have been involved a range of activities, whether that is cleaning closes and cutting grass through to supporting with community events, bulk uplift collection, upcycling, creating community garden spaces and dealing with more than 1200 additional requests from customers.”

He concluded: “The response from our customers to the teams’ efforts has been overwhelmingly positive and has demonstrated the difference this work is making day in, day out in communities the length and breadth of the region.

“We look forward to building on this work in the months and years ahead.”