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Could you be a #LitterHero and take part in this year's Great British Spring Clean?

Wiltshire Council and Idverde are asking community groups and schools around the county to take part in the Great British Spring Clean this spring.

Published 13 January 2025
Community litter pick groups

The Great British Spring Clean is the nation's biggest mass-action environmental campaign. Now in its tenth year, it will take place between 21 March and 6 April 2025 and the council is encouraging local community groups, schools and organisations to be #LitterHeroes by getting involved. 

The council can support local communities to set up their own litter pick events, with equipment available to be loaned to town and parish councils and local community groups across the county. During 2024, we supported more than 150 community events, with volunteers donating over 1,500 hours of labour to collect over 9,800kg of litter. Equipment, such as litter pickers and gloves, was loaned out to help enable more than 40 community events.

Schools can also get involved by signing up to the Great Big School Clean, with pupils taking part in litters collections in their local area. More than 50 Wiltshire schools took part in 2024, with participating schools being given a school litter pick kit containing children's litter pickers, hi-vis vests and gloves. Eight winning schools were then selected to receive a novelty bear litter bin for taking part.  

Groups and schools can join the Great British Spring Clean, and make requests for equipment or litter collection by contacting the Community Engagement Manager at wiltshirehelpdesk@idverde.co.uk (opens new window).  

Cllr Nick Holder, Cabinet Member for Highways and Street Scene, said:  Litter is a blight on our local environment. It is not only unsightly, spoiling beautiful Wiltshire countryside, but it can be a danger to people and wildlife. We work hard to tackle litter throughout the county, and the Great British Spring Clean is a fantastic opportunity for our communities to get involved and make a difference in their area. 

We can support the events with equipment and collecting the bagged waste. Last year, alongside our Don't Mess with Wiltshire campaign, we supported more than 150 events, with over 9,800kg of litter collected by community groups throughout the county.

While many community groups and schools are already doing their bit to help us tackle litter in Wiltshire, we could always do with more support. I want to thank all of those people currently doing their bit to help, but if we can encourage more people to become #LitterHeroes during the Great British Spring Clean and beyond it would be fantastic.

Where possible, volunteers should dispose of bagged waste in their usual household black bins or a public litter bin that has sufficient capacity. For larger events that could collect more than 10 bags black bags full of waste, the council can arrange single collection following the event.  

Please note that litter picks in the Salisbury area are not encouraged - here, the advice from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) remains 'if you didn't drop it, then don't pick it up'.*

People can find out more about the Great British Spring Clean at www.keepbritaintidy.org (opens new window). To find out more about the Don't Mess with Wiltshire campaign, people can go to www.wiltshire.gov.uk/litter.

 

*Please note: On 30 January 2025 the UKHSA changed it's previous advice regarding picking up litter in the local area around Salisbury. A public health risk assessment was carried out and concludes that there is considered to be negligible risk to the general population and negligible to low risk to individuals involved in litter picking activities which can be further mitigated through the application of routine health and safety precautions recommended by national and local stakeholder organisations, including the Keep Britain Tidy campaign and Wiltshire Council.

Therefore the previous advice of 'If you didn't drop it don't pick it up' has changed and the advice for residents in Salisbury and the surrounding area will thus be brought into line with the rest of England. 

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