Volunteers for Mail’s litter drive edge close to half a million as 40,000 Jaguar staff join in the big clean-up
- Jaguar has pledged 40k volunteers to join the Mail’s Great British Spring Clean
- They will organise events at 6 UK manufacturing and engineering sites
- Chief executive, professor Sir Ralf Speth, said improving the environment was an ‘integral’ part of the company’s mission and that staff can make a ‘difference’
Britain’s biggest car maker has promised an incredible 40,000 volunteers to join the Great British Spring Clean.
Jaguar Land Rover’s pledge comes as the total number of volunteers joining the war on litter hit an amazing 468,299 yesterday – with 11,385 events registered.
The company will organise dedicated events at its six main UK manufacturing and engineering sites and encourage their enormous workforce to get involved in the war on litter.
Jaguar Land Rover encouraging all of our 40,000 UK employees to get involved in the Great British Spring Clean either in their own time, or by joining one of our company organised events. Pictured: Employees at Jaguar Land Rover in an undated photo
Chief executive, professor Sir Ralf Speth, said improving the environment was an ‘integral’ part of the company’s mission and that his staff could make a ‘real difference’.
The number signed up to this year’s spring clean massively eclipses the number of volunteers who signed up in 2018, which stood at 370,000 – and we still have weeks of the campaign to go.
Jaguar Land Rover said it will ask employees to use their 16 paid volunteer hours to take part in our litter campaign, run in conjunction with Keep Britain Tidy.
The company will organise litter pick events throughout March and April, while the Great British Spring Clean is underway. These will take place around its main sites in the UK including in Solihull, Birmingham and Merseyside.
Sir Ralf said: ‘Improving both the environment and the lives of residents in the communities we call home is an integral part of Jaguar Land Rover’s Destination Zero mission – our ambition to make our societies safer and our environment cleaner.
Grim tide: A gull tries to eat a polystyrene takeaway container thrown into the harbour in the Welsh seaside town of Aberystwyth
‘As the UK’s largest automotive manufacturer our colleagues can make a real difference to our local communities and a positive impact on the environment.’
JLR is encouraging all 40,000 employees to get on-board, either in their own time or by joining an organised event.
Last year, staff at the company donated 75,000 volunteer hours to good causes across the UK.
Their announcement comes as Reckitt Benckiser, a consumer goods giant whose brands include Dettol, Strepsils and Durex have pledged to clean up the local area around its global headquarters as part of our campaign.
They said two teams of 100 volunteers will spend an afternoon litter picking around the Science and Innovation Centre in Hull and near its headquarters in Slough.
Susan Egstrand, head of Reckitt Benckiser UK and Ireland, said: ‘The Great British Spring Clean is a fantastic initiative and we applaud the Daily Mail for its leadership on such an important issue.
‘At Reckitt Benckiser we are all committed to creating a cleaner world so we’ll be rolling up our sleeves and taking part over the coming weeks.’
Many influential companies and organisations have pledged to get involved with the Great British Spring Clean.
Unsightly Edinburgh: Litter is snagged in grass at the side of a road in Scotland
Shameful sight in Newcastle-upon-Tyne: A burnt-out bin spews rubbish on to a pavement
HSBC, Hargreaves Lansdown and Barratt Developments are also on board, and have promised to encourage their tens of thousands of staff members to take part in litter picks.
Last year our campaign, which runs from March 20 to April 13, enlisted almost 600,000 people across the country to take part in tackling Britain’s litter.
This year we hope to do even bigger and better – aiming to get as close to a million volunteers as we can.