Most of Britain is enjoying warm sun and blue skies. And with this fantastic weather a whole new world has opened up after a long, wet winter.

People are spending lots more time outside - playing sport, soaking up rays, or enjoying nature.

But a sizable group are spoiling things by leaving bottles, cans and waste food in parks and fields across the country. I feel like I'm living near a pigsty and I want things to change.

I know my neighbours feel the same as we look across the park area near our estate. But too many people are apathetic and feel that nothing can be done. Bigger problems are more important. That's probably true, but does it mean with have to put up with this mess?

Why ruin our environment, in what must be one of the most beautiful places on the planet?  Clearly the people responsible don't care for their community, and perhaps that's where the problem lies.  As well as promoting citizenship values in schools, parents and educators must teach people to take care of their community and respect it - love it, even.

There is a logic in taking care of ourselves, our loved ones, our families and homes and then our communities first. If we're able to do this then we are better equipped to look at much bigger issues such as crime and poverty.

The mess is an eye-sore and a horrid contrast with the beauty of spring and summer all around us. Not only that, it creates a major health hazard in a country that is already facing a massive increase in rats - spreaders of disease and parasites.

What can you do? If you spot an immediate problem, contact your council's community wardens and request that they ask the offenders to clean up. Encourage your friends and neighbours to become more informed about the issue of litter and waste food on our streets, in parks and in open spaces. Ask them to consider becoming less apathetic towards the problem.

Log on to EnCams, the group which runs the Keep Britain Tidy campaign for support, information and advice.

You can also contact the Campaign to Protect Rural England which, at present, is running an anti-litter and fly-tipping campaign. It has a number of suggestions for ways in which you can take action, including emailing your local council and joining with Bill Bryson in his work to combat littering.

The CPRE has a dedicated website, Litter Action, which offers all kinds of resources such as information on volunteer groups and educational information.

Please don't sit back and say "That's how it is in Britain". Otherwise the problem will become a lot worse before it gets better.

I've had a fascinating email exchanged with Phillip Kennedy, a first-generation Australian who, it turns out, is a very distant cousin.

Phillip discovered my travel pieces about Ireland through Google. He is researching his father's maternal line, the Cox family from Midleton, Co. Cork, Ireland and plans to visit Ireland in September.

My grandfather, John Cox, was born in Cork City in 1894 and lived in Midleton as a boy and young man.  Through research documents from the Mallow Heritage Centre we've discovered that our great-great-grandfathers were brothers.

It was a difficult trail to unravel, partly because the same forenames reappear throughout the generations (William, Thomas and John).

Phillip's father, Finbarr Kennedy, emigrated to Australia in 1949. He was traveling at the time and intended to continue traveling, but met Phillip's mother, and settled there. Phillip now lives in Ullverstone, on the north-west coast of Tasmania.

We are certain that great-great grandfathers John and Thomas were brothers, and suspect there was another brother, William. My great-great-grandfather Thomas Cox went on to have ten children, so it's fascinating to think that there are distant cousins most likely spread across the globe. What a small world.

If anyone else is tracing the Cox line in Co. Cork in the mid-1800s Phillip and I would appreciate hearing from you.

By Anth Quinn. Part 5. 

People often know they aren't living the life they would like to. They may even have a clear goal but don't seem able to make long-term sustainable change in their lives.

Even when they develop clear goals, decide on a plan and take action, somehow they lose their way and find themselves back where they started - sometimes in a worse spot than before!

It's all too easy in the rush of enthusiasm that follows the decision to change to get carried away and try and change everything at once. That approach really does work for some people. But if you're one of the many who've tried, tried and tried again and become disillusioned along the way - I'd like to suggest a different approach.

If you want to change any part of your life how about taking control by starting small?

This is a simple but very effective way of making genuine sustainable change and growth in any area of your life.

First pick one area of your life where you'd like to grow. Take a look at where you are now and where you'd like to be. Then decide on one simple small step to that would move you towards what you want.

Now simply make a promise to yourself that for the next week that you will keep this up. Here are some examples: If you'd like to stop smoking and currently smoke 20 a day - you could promise to stick to 18 a day! Or if you'd like to lose weight, you could promise to only eat two biscuits with your morning coffee, rather than the usual three.

It really doesn't matter what the promise is. What does matter is that you intend to keep it!

The most common reason people fail is because they set goals which they believe are out of reach. 

Keep it small and it's not only easier to keep your promise, it's also harder to break it!

After a week, review how you got on with your promise. You may find it easier initially if ask a friend to ask how you're getting on each week. 

If you kept it up all week - FANTASTIC! Give yourself a pat on the back. What would be another small step be towards your goal? Remember, keep it small and keep moving forward.

If you never managed to keep it - ask yourself what went wrong? What can I learn from this?

Did you really mean to keep your promise in the first place? Was it just too hard? If this is the case and the change is still important to you ask how could you make it easier for yourself? Think of something smaller and commit to that, and try again.

There is no success or failure here - only an opportunity to understand yourself and learn what works for you. We do things for reasons (even bad habits). Understanding these reasons gives you options and allows you to choose to react differently!

The secret really is to keep the steps small. If you keep this process up you'll find that you make measurable progress towards your goal and in all probability look back wonder how it could ever have been hard.

But there is second hidden benefit in this process - and that is the growth in self-confidence and self-esteem that comes from making and keeping promises. This is especially true when the promise is only to yourself!

Give it a go I'm sure you'll be amazed!

Fear of taking action is the biggest single cause of stagnation in life. Taking small steps allows you to gain control, build confidence and transform your life. Any so-called wrong decisions or actions will be correspondingly small and easy to learn from, again building the habit of learning and moving on!

Taking small steps and preserving simplicity, then being wrong and learning from it is the best way to explore the unknown. Make failure frequent, fast, and cheap. - Roy Miller

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