Newham Council says the ‘environment belongs to everyone’ as they call on volunteers to join mass litter clean up

Newham Council has thrown its support behind a bid to clean up litter from the borough's streets and public spaces as part of Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean campaign, running from 15 to 31 March, encouraging Newham residents to demonstrate their pride in their locality by participating in a mass action litter pick.

The Council backing the charity’s #BigBagChallenge – a plea to the public to pledge, via the charity’s website, to pick one bag or more of litter from streets, parks and beauty spots to protect our vibrant communities and precious wildlife habitats. 

Newham Council are holding litter-picking events with community neighbourhoods, resident groups and schools across the borough. Check out just some of the events taking place near you:

To coincide with the launch of the Great British Spring Clean 2024, we’ve also introduced our new community litter picking service. The service will be available all year round, supporting residents to organise their own litter picking events from start to finish.

During last year’s campaign, Newham Council's Waste Reduction Team supported hard-working volunteers from the Newham Muslim Forum as they planned an impressive eight litter-picking events across Newham’s mosques, which coincided with Ramadan. Around 12 other organisations from across the borough joined forces to spruce up the area during the events - and members are hoping to do even more this year.

For their efforts, the two organisations were presented with the charity’s Outstanding Organiser Award, which recognises a local authority-related scheme that has gone above and beyond to tackle litter. Representatives were invited to collect the award at a Parliamentary celebration to mark the launch of the 2024 Great British Spring Clean campaign.

This year’s campaign comes as Keep Britain Tidy marks its platinum anniversary, having been founded by Women’s Institute members in 1954. To mark their 70th year, people can make a #PlatinumPledge such as by picking 70 items, 70 bags, or spending 70 minutes in the great outdoors litter-picking.

The charity reports that last year:

• 96% of participants agreed that they felt they had made a difference to their local area.
• 84% agreed that the Great British Spring Clean helped them to feel inspired to do more to protect the environment.

Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said:K “The Great British Spring Clean simply would not be possible without the backing of our community partners.
 
“We are so grateful for the ongoing support from Newham Council. The Great British Spring Clean is a fantastic way for councils to support residents to really show their pride in where they live, and connect with like-minded people, while taking serious and immediate action to protect the environment on their doorstep. 

“Local authorities play a critical role in engaging and supporting volunteers on the ground. Whether it’s a pledge to pick one bag - or 70 for our anniversary Newham Council can feel proud to see their armies of #LitterHeroes volunteers carrying out these acts of kindness to make the [county/city/village etc.] a cleaner, safer place for our future generations”.

Get involved in the Great British Spring Clean today by pledging at: www.keepbritaintidy.org/gbspringclean; and using the hashtags #GBSpringClean #BigBagChallenge