It’s not often a weekly paper gets to scoop the world news, but yes! Ballymena Guardian‘s out on the exact day, Midsummer Tuesday with a lovely piece by Seana, launching the global ASAP story.

let’s hope this will be the first in an endless series about what we Ballymena people, individuals, groups, businesses, schools, above all, politicians – what we’re all doing, to help bring back the balance…. when we film this, loads of KIDS shout YaY! at this point

Today I was invited to speak for a few minutes about Pledge ASAP, at the APSE [Association for Public Service Excellence] sustainability seminar in Ballymena’s ECOS centre. Mayor Hubert Nicholl had also put pledge forms out for those attending – so we hope to see the message spreading further through our councils. No time to lose.

Ballymena’s where I grew up, and returned to live in 2001, just round the corner from where I started. It’s my place, my town, my river, my land, etc. And like most places I’ve been in Northern Ireland, it’s much more littered than it was 10 years ago. Because the stuff people are dropping doesn’t break down. Children in our schools drop it because their parents don’t tell them not to.

I take full responsibility for playing my part in taking care of it all, whatever I can do to help bring us back to respect. Ditto for Omagh, Belfast, Armagh and Derry City, Strabane, Carrickfergus and Coleraine and all councils and communities working with us – and us working with them.

So please pledge ASAP ….. this is Northern Ireland’s SHOUT to the world and we need everybody.

We are talking naked and unashamed good news. About people making good choices; people learning from their mistakes, people reaching out across the world to solve problems together.

We are talking people in our community, making a difference in whatever way we can: Wrightbus, Harryville Primary School and Harryville Partnership, Michelin…. Patton… Translink….. BITCNI, WRAP, the DoENI [Rethink Waste]