Ralph Taylor, 48, has been pulling litter out from the river for years (Picture: SWNS)
Trolleys, bikes, safes and even fridges have been pulled out of the Thames in the past two years.
Ralph Taylor and his team of volunteers, the Waterway Pickers, are on a mission to clear up the river and have just removed their 100th trolley.
The 48-year-old began his campaign in 2021 after becoming concerned about the dangers such litter could present to people swimming or boating in the river.
Trolleys are normally shipped off to the scrapyard or back to the supermarket.
All the discarded trolleys pulled out from the water (Picture: SWNS)
The Waterway Pickers in action (Picture: SWNS)
But Ralph plans to honour the three-figure collection by turning it into a sculpture of a heron, which will be returned to the water.
He left the decision of what it was going to be to all the volunteers that helped inreaching this mark.
The litter-picker from Staines, Surrey, said: ‘The idea to have a heron was because it represents an abundance of food and clean waterways.
‘When we had a party to celebrate the 100th trolley on Saturday, at the end I asked everyone what they would like the shopping trolley to be transformed into.
Ralph pictured with all the litter that had been thrown in the water (Picture: SWNS)
The group started picking in 2021 (Picture: SWNS)
‘It’s like a phoenix. From the rubbish comes something artistic and beautiful.’
The dad could not believe he managed to reach the milestone, which had become ‘an ongoing joke’ over time.
‘When I was on 30 I definitely could not see that we would make it to 100 when I know how much effort it is to just get one,’ Ralph added.
The pickers use grappling hooks, rope and sometimes a winch to help pull trolleys and other litter out of the water and sticky mud.
But Ralph uses the machinery as a last resort, as he loves the camaraderie that comes with retrieving a trolley with just manpower.
He said: ‘There is something nice and therapeutic about the manual side of it and not using the machinery.
‘Using the machinery takes the interaction between people away. When we do it by hand we automatically come together and achieve something amazing as a team.’
‘From the rubbish comes something artistic and beautiful.’
