Volunteers clean up Rochdale borough for the Great British Spring Clean

Scores of volunteers across the borough of Rochdale will be making a difference to our environment over the next month for this year’s Great British Spring Clean, run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.

The campaign, which began this weekend, runs to 23 April and will see up to half a million people taking action to clean up streets, parks and green spaces across the country.

The Great British Spring Clean brings together individuals, community organisations, businesses and councils to make a difference to the environment on our doorstep and in 2018 around 370,000 #LitterHeroes collected more than 630,000 bags of rubbish.

Rochdale Borough Council has pledged its support for this year’s Great British Spring Clean, run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy.

Last year, the local authority collected more than 100 bags of rubbish that had been litter picked by community groups across the borough.

Councillor Neil Emmott, Rochdale Borough Council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “We’ve more schools and community groups taking part in this year’s Spring Clean campaign than ever. This weekend alone, over 100 volunteers have gathered across town to support Rochdale in becoming a cleaner and greener borough by collecting nearly half a tonne of rubbish in just one morning from our streets and green spaces.

“Most people do the right thing and get rid of their litter responsibly yet a small number of people continue to drop litter and blight our streets. It’s no easy task keeping the borough’s 2,220km of footpaths and 684 hectares of parks clean and I am overwhelmed by the public support that has been shown this weekend.”

Keep Britain Tidy chief executive, Allison Ogden-Newton said: “The Great British Spring Clean is an opportunity for the millions of people who care about the environment on their doorstep to do something positive that will make a visible difference. We are delighted that Rochdale Borough Council is supporting this year’s campaign and would like to thank them for their support. Without councils across the country giving the campaign their backing, our volunteers would not be able to do the incredible job they do.”

The council can provide litter picking kits including gloves, litter pickers, high vis jackets and bags to anyone wanting to get involved in the campaign.

This year’s campaign will not only see tonnes of litter being removed from the environment on our doorstep – it also aims to rescue thousands of the plastic bottles and aluminium drinks cans that are simply thrown on the ground but could very easily be recycled.

Anyone wishing to take part can order their litter picking kit by visiting:

• rochdale.gov.uk/litterpick

To find out more about the Great British Spring Clean and find out where you can join in, visit: 

• keepbritaintidy.org