Half a million litter heroes! Tourist boards sign up for the Great British Spring Clean campaign – boosting the number of volunteers past the 500,000 milestone
- Milestone figure was surpassed yesterday two weeks before campaign starts
- Chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy said she was ‘blown away’ by the support
- Tourist boards and hotel groups have also rallied around the campaign
More than half a million volunteers have now signed up to take part in the Great British Spring Clean.
The milestone figure was surpassed yesterday – two weeks before the campaign, which is backed by the Daily Mail, officially kicks off on March 20.
From schoolchildren to pensioners, you have answered the call to spruce up streets, parks and beaches and help rid our planet of the waste harming wildlife and the environment.
The scene left by fly-tippers off the A48 in Coedkernew, Newport, where rubbish has been left
Allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy which has organised the campaign, said: ‘Wow! I am blown away by the response we’ve had to this year’s campaign. To have reached 500,000 volunteers in just six weeks is as astonishing as it is inspiring.
‘A huge thank you to every one of the public who have pledged their support, the Daily Mail and all the partners and sponsors who have helped make this happen.
‘If you haven’t yet, it’s not too late to get involved. Whether you can do five minutes or five hours, every piece of litter picked up during the Great British Spring Clean can make a big difference to our planet.’
In a significant boost, tourist boards and hotel groups have also rallied around to pledge hundreds of hours to picking up discarded rubbish.
VisitBritain has thrown its weight behind the campaign by sending guidance to thousands of members including B&B owners, attractions, hoteliers and cafe owners on how to organise litter pick events.
Meanwhile, VisitScotland hopes the campaign will encourage a clean-up on beaches and riverbanks.
Rubbish has been illegally fly-tipped on this abandoned retail centre in Alperton, London
A spokesman said: ‘This year we would like to see a growing family of beach lovers roll up their sleeves to help rid the world’s beaches of marine litter and plastic pollution. Every piece of litter removed from the beach matters.’
Hotel groups up and down the country have also offered to provide guests with litter pickers in hotel lobbies – alongside umbrellas and wellington boots.
Hotelier Peter de Savary, who with his wife Lana owns six hotels in the south of England, said: ‘We hate litter but love our beautiful countryside and try hard to help keep our neighbourhoods clean and tidy.’
Litter pickers along with gloves and bins are to be provided for Mr Savary’s guests going for walks.
A beach cleaning event for staff and guests is to be held near the Cary Arms in Babbacombe Bay in Dorset on March 20, and the Eastbury Hotel in Sherborne in Dorset is also organising a clean-up.
The up-and-coming budget hotel group, OYO Hotels, with more than 200 franchises across the country, has also pledged to contribute more than 200 hours of litter picking towards the campaign which runs until April 13.
Rubbish abandoned on a countryside verge in Britain. The chancellor is to propose a £9million budget to help clean up Britain’s streets
And Pride of Britain Hotels, a group of 50 top hotels including Bovey Castle in Devon and Glenapp Castle in Ayrshire, has signalled its support. The campaign now has 508,185 volunteers with 12,994 events registered.
Compared to last year, we are three weeks ahead in hitting the same milestone figure. The boost in numbers is thanks to the likes of Lloyds, HSBC, Jaguar Land Rover and McDonald’s, who have all pledged their thousands of staff to take part.
Girlguiding UK also promised an incredible 100,000 members to help tackle the blight of litter across Britain, and the National Trust has sent out reminders to over five million subscribers.
Last weekend we revealed over 100,000 schoolchildren between nursery age and 18 have signed up. Many of these will come from the 20,000 eco-schools now registered in the UK.