A church group held a Sunday morning service of a different kind recently, serving the community by tiding up around their local cafe.
Volunteers from Plaistow Christian Fellowship, Eden Plaistow and the Cornerstone Community Coffee Shop joined forces to pick up rubbish in an area on Barking Road.
Items collected included a pair of old shoes, half a pack of putrid pork chops, bags of rubbish, hundreds of cigarette butts and about 100 cans, which were recycled.
Cornerstone volunteer Elaine Fieldhouse said: "It was refreshing to see a sometimes tired and unkempt area, being given a love lift from a local group of people."
East 13 Christian Trust - the charity behind the three organisations that took part in the litter pick - has been awarded a grassroots grant from the council, which will be used to replant a large flowerbed outside the betting shop opposite Cornerstone.
The volunteer-run Cornerstone coffee shop and community space is open 10am to 3pm, Wednesday to Friday. Plaistow Christian Fellowship meet at 10.30am on Sundays at Tollgate Primary School in Barclay Road.
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