To celebrate Earth Day, pupils from Brookfield Primary joined Heath Hands on Hampstead Heath, and helped to set an example to visitors by litter-picking.

Children at Brookfield were involved in activities and learning about wildlife on the Heath.

Paula Harvey, who leads on forest school-type activities at Brookfield, said: "Children loved going to the Heath last Thursday and really enjoyed the activities prepared by Heath Hands.

"It was a very special outing for all of us as we have not been able to participate in any out of school activities for over a year for obvious reasons. The timing was also perfect as the visit happened on Earth Day."

The pupils enjoyed themselves too, with Ari saying: “I enjoyed litter picking activity with my friends. I cannot believe how much litter we have picked up.”

Classmate Layla added: “I really enjoyed learning about the wildlife of the Heath. I didn’t know that those animals lived there.”

Heath Hands told this newspaper: "As part of this programme, schools can bring their students and staff closer to nature on Hampstead Heath.

"For instance, we ran nature mindfulness for teachers from Heathside School in Hampstead and we’ve got this event with Brookfield."

The litter-picking forms part of the charity's "Love the Heath - tackling litter" campaign, which is an ongoing fundraiser to help equip it with the equipment volunteers need to best help the City of London Corporation's (CoLC) rangers.

Heath Hands is doing its bit to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Hampstead Heath Act, too, having recently announced the four winners of its Love the Heath video campaign - Aparna Sivasankar, Victoria Evaristo, Nye Chauan and Sadie Oliver.

It will hold it's community fun day on June 27.

The CoLC is working to combat the increased littering on Hampstead Heath by collaborating with charities like Heath Hands and Parkrun to increase litter-picking and educating visitors about the impact of litter on the Heath's wildlife.

Its lawyers are also looking into the possibility of bringing in injunctions to prevent anti-social behaviour including littering on the Heath.