The Grafton Project
The Grafton Project came from Dave on Grafton Street asking Roger if members of MRRA could help him tidy his street.
In one hour we removed hundreds of items, including: hundreds of cigarette ends, some furniture, rubble from a house renovation, 9 piles of dog/cat excrement, some weeds, sweet wrappers and so on.
See videos taken on Grafton Street at https://abbeynews.uk/tidy-videos/
The Grafton Project aims to answer these questions:
- What is the best way to keep a street tidy ALL DAY / EVERY DAY?
- How much will transforming from untidy to tidy improve mood and help bring a community together?
- Will residents on the neighbouring streets want to get involved?
- Can tidiness spread from street-to-street?
In the first few days we needed to add:
- How can a severe daily dog fouling problem be stopped and prevented from recurring?
- When all the debris is removed from the pavements will cats stop using the pavement as a litter-tray?
- How can residents work with the council to change fly-tipping behaviour (especially at the Percy Street Carpark at the bottom of Grafton Street) to behaviour where rubbish such as from house clearances can be dealt with appropriately?
In the first few weeks we have added:
- What proportion of residents will get involved with monitoring mood, and possible improvements in health, that can come from working together?
- Can this project help people put their differences aside for the benefit of all?
With the City Council election looming, this last question may be the key to the success of this project. It is common for political candidates to claim they are litter picking. With early successes, such as residents saying how good they feel about their cleaner street, it is important that no political party tries to claim credit for what residents are achieving.
We suggest that any party wanting to mention this work, simply say, “Our party members are working with independents and members of other parties to maximise the benefits from The Grafton Project.”
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CLEARER/CLEANER STREETS:
The PROJECT GRAFTON started on 1st February. Within a few days 15 front windows had posters up supporting the idea that residents can work together to keep[ a street litter-free.
On Saturday 21st March, 5 residents were involved with sweeping both sides of Grafton Street.
On 30th March residents from all along Monks Road met (some at the Methodist Church and some elsewhere) to agree on our next steps towards clearer/cleaner streets along Monks Road. We now have some “Street Champions” coming forward to make this a real competition with sponsorship providing money for prizes. Contact us to get involved.
Take a walk on Grafton Street almost any day to see how much cleaner and tidier it is than the other ‘Down Roads’ off Monks Road. There’s still more to do there… It was not good that the day after we swept the street there were already 2 piles of dog excrement. We are not giving up.
Monks Road Residents Association will be progressing what seems now to be the GRAFTON COMPETITION when we meet on 20th April – 6:30pm at the Methodist Church.
The Grafton Project
The original Grafton poster, created according to Dave’s specification, with Roger and others saying, “It’s not right.” and “That picture has nothing to do with Lincoln, any city or even anything to do with the UK!”
Strangely (strangely to me) it worked as I started to be asked to print more copies.
Some of the 15 posters seen in windows on Grafton Street on 5th March 2026
