A budding ballerina from Twickenham is tackling a surge in litter witnessed in Richmond recently and raising money for a London ballet charity in the process.

12-year-old Scarlett from Twickenham started litter picking on her walks through Crane Park with her dog at the weekend.

Since her first litter-picking expedition on Sunday (July 12), she's smashed her initial fundraising goal and reached £235 as of Wednesday afternoon (July 15).

Scarlett is raising money for "a charity close to my heart", the London Children's Ballet, who hold community ballet classes and give children the chance to be part of professionally produced productions.

Richmond and Twickenham Times: Scarlett tackles litter in Crane Park with her dog. Scarlett tackles litter in Crane Park with her dog.

The charity were forced to cancel their 2020 production due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but this only spurred Scarlett on to help them while helping the local community and environment out too.

"I'm so tired of all the litter along Crane Park, it's such a beautiful place," Scarlett wrote on her fundraising page.

"Every day on my dog walk I'm going litter picking. On my first day today (12 July) I collected a whole bin bag full. The bin at the shot tower had over flowed and the rubbish was everywhere :-(" She added.

"I'm hoping that if you use this beautiful space for running, dog walking or cycling that you'll be able to sponsor me as I'll be collecting litter most days throughout the summer holidays."

As the RTT reported recently, a number of parks in London including several in Richmond have experienced a massive surge in the amount of litter being left behind by visitors since the coronavirus lockdown measures were lifted.

Richmond and Twickenham Times: Scarlett is raising money for the London Children's Ballet charity with her efforts. Scarlett is raising money for the London Children's Ballet charity with her efforts.

In Richmond Park alone, the amount of litter collected by park authorities in June increased 7-fold compared to the same month last year.

Scarlett has also been blogging about her experiences on the Just Giving website as the donations spurring her on roll in.

"Day 3 and we went into the bushes around the shot tower. There were bottles and yogurt cartons and plastic spoons," she said of yesterday's litter pick.

"Also lots of those plastic straw covers you get with small cartons of drinks. More people are coming for picnics in the hot weather but don't think to clear up their mess afterwards :-( It's such a shame.

"Thank you so much for everyone who has sponsored me so far, I can't believe we're already at £205 which is way over my target!!" Scarlett added.

To donate to her fundraiser, click here.