What is the weirdest thing you have found?

"A gun, in a ditch on the Hillingdon border. Last summer when the weather was really dry, I spotted something in the mud, pulled it out and it was a shotgun."

In an interview with Nub News, Mark Hardy, front-of-house manager at Thai Upon Thames, recounts his most shocking discovery over many years of litter picking. 

Thai Upon Thames, which opened more than 27 years ago, is an old established restaurant on Richmond Road that offers a warm atmosphere, friendly service and far more that lies beneath the surface. 

Mark has been part of the team at Thai Upon Thames for almost 20 years now and has since then started an independent litter picking and river cleaning initiative that sees him doing community work three to four days a week in boroughs all around London, including Richmond, Hounslow, Wandsworth, Ealing and Hillingdon.  

On some occasions, Mark has ventured beyond London to Surrey and even Dorset when visiting his parents exclaiming: "I couldn't get away from it!"

The restaurant has been named a finalist for two Richmond Community Heroes Awards and Mark has received a certificate of recognition for his work across rivers and greenspaces from the Mayor of Hounslow, Amy Croft, whom he has worked with three times before. 

Mark said: "To give back to the communities, the customers and the environment, we started this small thing. It was low-level to start with, and then it just increased and increased.

advertisement

"We want to make this place better.

"We're making it more welcoming for visitors, for people who work here, but also for the people who live here."

What began with a stroll through a particularly litter-filled part of Twickenham's Crane Park, a bin bag and a pair of gardening gloves from Home Bargains has grown into a well-recognised project featuring networking events, meetings with MPs and Councillors, and award ceremonies. 

In addition to litter picking, the restaurant has donated over £800 and dine in vouchers to local hospitals, food and hygiene banks, local conservation groups and charities. 

Mark told Nub News how welcome he feels within the litter picking community, an overlooked bonus of the work he is doing. 

He said: "When I first came along, I didn't know anybody, I wasn't in that space of litter picking or river cleaning, so it has been a really big learning experience for me.

"I've gone from not being known at all and just doing litter picking myself to knowing lots of different people in lots of different groups."

Mark explained the wider benefit of his work in relieving strain off the local council, saying: "People comment on our posts saying this work should be left to the council, but the council has only got so many resources.

advertisement

"If they put more resources into litter picking, then they would be taking funding away from other things."

A recent report revealed that a volunteering group in Ealing saved their council £300,000 through community work, a huge sum of money which could then be spent on repairs and improvements throughout the borough - a clear demonstration of the difference these unsung heroes make to our communities. 

Mark highlighted the struggle to sustain an established restaurant against the natural flow of customers to the newer, heavily advertised restaurants on the high street. However, this struggle has been somewhat alleviated through the positive reception of Mark's community work from residents in the area.

He said: "There is always a drive to the new restaurants and as an older established restaurant, you lose some of that touch. But we're gaining something back by giving to the community and the environment."

Mark revealed that once he began posting on Facebook about his community work, he began to get more and more likes and later on, after a particular roundabout clean-up near Chertsey Road, he got more than 300 likes. 

"People have come into the restaurant solely because of the community work I have been doing and not anything else. It is good for the environment, it's what we enjoy and we've picked up a few extra customers. It's a win-win."

To find out more about Mark and Thai Upon Thames, visit the restaurant's website here.

READ MORE: Plans to upgrade Twickenham telephone box submitted.

advertisement

We want to provide Twickenham with more and more clickbait-free local news. To do that, we need a loyal newsletter following. Help us survive and sign up for our free weekly newsletter by clicking the link HERE.