This year, Keep Britain Tidy hits a major milestone – 70 years of keeping Britain beautiful! To celebrate, they’re gearing up for the ninth annual Great British Spring Clean (GBSC), and they need your help to make it the biggest one yet!
Running from 15 – 31 March 2024, the Great British Spring Clean is the nation’s largest mass-action environmental campaign. You can now make your pledge as an individual, group or school to pick up a bag of litter, or more, for this important event. Last year over 400,000 bags of litter were collected by the army of Litter Heroes throughout Britain, and 95% of them felt as though they had made a difference to their local area having completed their pledge.
This year’s campaign aims to spread the message that the environment belongs to everyone – we are all in it, all the time, so any pledge to help will make a significant difference. Some litter that is found by dedicated volunteers has been around for many years, highlighting the permanence of litter; a recent find was dated back to around 1954, meaning it had lingered in the environment long enough to witness the Moon landing, the birth of the internet and the reign of a new Monarch!
If you do make a pledge and have collected your bags full of litter, the council’s Neighbourhood Services team will then collect these bags to ensure that they are recycled appropriately. They can also support your litter pick by providing you with bags, hi-vis jackets and loan you litter pickers. Once you’ve completed your pledge, go to the council website to see how your full bags can be collected and where to get more bags.
Councillor Natalie Sommers, Portfolio Holder for Communities said: “Taking part in events like the Great British Spring Clean gives thousands of people the chance to combine their efforts and make a difference together.
“I encourage all residents to take part – it’s such a great way to teach youngsters about caring for the environment!”
Councillor Martin Goss, Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhood Services and Waste, added: “The Great British Spring Clean is a fantastic initiative and I would encourage as many residents as possible to sign up to make a significant difference to their communities.
“Addressing attitudes around littering is one of the council’s main priorities. As well as helping to clean local areas, it also helps raise awareness to discourage littering in the first place. These two elements reflect both our community and our individual responsibilities. Let’s hope all the effort during this year’s Great British Spring Clean leads to less litter being dropped in the future.”
You can pledge your support to the Great British Spring clean here. We also would love to receive your feedback once you’ve completed your pledge – this helps us track all the fantastic work our litter pickers do. All you have to do is fill out this short form.
Those that would like bags delivered and collected by our Neighbourhood Services team or who wish to borrow litter pickers or hi-vis jackets should contact community.volunteers@colchester.gov.uk.
Colchester City Council is passionate about supporting people to litter pick in their community all year round. There are litter picking hubs available across the city, providing the opportunity for people to borrow litter picking kit when they are out and about, then return them at the end of the day, or people can sign up to join our Litter Warriors scheme, find out more here.
Page last reviewed: 11 March 2024