IT was all hands on deck in East Dubbo's Apollo Estate as residents and others from across the city and beyond lifted, raked, shovelled and threw out tonnes of rubbish as part of yesterday's community clean-up.
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Housing NSW, Apollo House, Compass Housing, CareWest and Dubbo City Council were among the agencies who organised the initiative.
The number of people involved and the amount of rubbish collected and taken away "exceeded expectations", according to Apollo House co-ordinator Mel Singh.
"Earlier we did a doorknock to let everyone know it was happening and today they're cleaning up their own places and public spaces and we have several skip bins and a scrap metal bin for all the waste," she said.
Helping out on the day were representatives from Community Corrections, ICAN and Dubbo Community Men's Shed Inc, who came in with trailers to assist with some of the larger items that had to be moved.
Helpers and children on school holidays took a breather from their hard day's work, enjoying a barbecue at Apollo House.
Helper "Riverbank" Frank Doolan said it was a wonderful event that had brought the community together.
"If you look around you see young, old, black and white," he said.
Jeff Fernando was also among those busy cleaning up rubbish.
"I don't mind getting dirty.
"It's great to see the community pitch in like this and show the kids some good habits," he said.
Reverend Ian Vippond from Dubbo Baptist Church donned high visibility orange pants for the occasion.
"You name it, we've collected it," he said.
"Clothes, washing machines, old toys and broken strollers, everyone's worked together to clean up."
Compass Housing executive manager for community sustainability and social enterprises Debra Allan said tenants were "giving back to make a difference to their community wellbeing".
"Place is so important," she said.
"Communities that participate to assist each other develop strong and resilient communities.
"The adults are teaching the children to care for their community, by being part of the clean-up day and taking pride in the place."