York held its first ‘pimped up’ wheelbarrow race at St John University on Friday 22nd February as part of the Agents4Change campaign. The volunteers used old wheelbarrows to encourage more people to recycle in an innovative project called ‘Pimp My Wheelbarrow’.

The rubbishy old wheelbarrows were ‘jazzed up’ by repairing them and painting them in bright colours, much like the star cars in MTV’s ‘Pimp My Ride’ programme.

Pete and Meg's wheelbarrow, pictured above right, sported an excellent street-meets-Pollock look, while others echoed the fact it was all part of Go Green Week, and went for eco-conscious motifs.

Once pimped, the 'barras were ready for action - participating in a recycling themed race where volunteers attempted to pick up plastics and other materials to recycle them.

Agents4Change volunteer, Lizzie Thompson says: “There are still not enough people that recycle. We want to raise awareness amongst people in York and show that recycling can be fun.”