Will you join the Great British Spring Clean?

Winter is nearly over – it’s time to take part in this year’s Great British Spring Clean!

Running from 2 to 4 March, the Great British Spring Clean is a campaign with a simple aim: to bring people across the country together to clear up the litter that blights our towns, villages, countryside and beaches.

It’s been organised nationally by Keep Britain Tidy, and supported locally by Bury Council.

Everyone can get involved - residents, schools, colleges, community groups – and a number of organisations in Bury have already taken the pledge.

To find our more, and sign up for the cause, visit http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/great-british-spring-clean

For anyone getting involved, Bury Council are offering litter picks on loan for the clean-up.

You can help keep Bury litter free throughout the year by carrying out regular litter picks and taking the Bury Street Care Pledge: visit www.bury.gov.uk/pledge to take the pledge online and receive a free litter pack.

Councillor Alan Quinn, cabinet member for the environment, said: “Like most people, I simply cannot understand why people drop litter in the first place. One thing we do know, though, is that litter tends to attract more litter, so the sooner it is cleared up the better. The council cannot be everywhere and due to cuts from central government we have limited resources, so it is vital that we act in partnership – with schools, businesses and community groups – to keep our borough clean.

“Throughout Bury there are already some fantastic community groups like Clean Team Prestwich who clean up their own neighbourhoods. I’d like to go on record to thank these volunteers who do make a difference to their area.

“Together we can make a difference and clean up the environment on our doorstep.”

• Ahead of the big Spring Clean, a wide range of Bury organisations have already carried out a Community Action Day clean-up this week.

Residents were joined by representatives from Faiths4Change, the Environment Agency, Bury Council, Bury Asian Women’s Centre, and the New Springs Community Project Group.

They were joined by primary schools including St Luke’s, St Thomas’s, Holy Trinity and Lowercroft, plus Broad Oak and Derby High schools.

The volunteers – including a mum with her baby in a push chair - picked up litter along a whole section of the pathway that runs along the River Roch at the end of Gigg Lane, Bury. They also separated recyclables at source to further save resources. The clean-up also focused on the need not to drop litter in the first place and the consequences that litter can have on the environment, the community and for flooding.

ENDS

Press release issued: 20 February 2018.

Picture: Volunteers carry out a big clean-up in Bury.