Great British Spring Clean 2023

Cotswold District Council to pick up bags in aid of the Great British Spring Clean

Cotswold District Council’s Clean and Green team is inviting local communities to get behind this year’s Great British Spring Clean (17 March to 2 April), the national campaign by Keep Britain Tidy which encourages people of all ages to go out into their neighbourhoods to pick up litter.

Last year’s campaign received a phenomenal response with people from across the country pledging to eliminate almost half a million bags of litter from the environment to protect wildlife, prevent pollution and show pride for where they live. 

To show its support, the District Council will once again pick up bags of litter gathered by local volunteers and loan out litter picking kits, including litter grabbers, hi-vis jackets and gloves, to those who would like it.

Councillor Andrew Doherty, Cabinet Member for Environment, Waste and Recycling at Cotswold District Council, said: “Now in its eighth year the Great British Spring Clean is billed as the nation’s largest mass-action environmental event and anyone can get involved, whether they want to take part as an individual, as a group or as a school. Those that would like to join in are being encouraged by Keep Britain Tidy to go online and pledge as to how many bags of litter they will collect.

“Each year, Cotswold residents willingly give their time to support this very worthwhile event so we are delighted to support them so they can pick up the litter safely. To help us, we’re asking volunteers to get in touch beforehand and request some of our litter stickers. These need to be displayed on the filled bags so that our street cleansing team can easily identify them. Once the bags of litter are ready to be collected, members of the public simply need to contact the customer services team at the Council with the location and number of sacks they have filled.” 

The Council advises that bags need to be left in an accessible spot and on public land so that Ubico can collect them.

Anyone wanting to borrow litter picking equipment or needing general advice on litter picking, can contact the Clean and Green team on ers@publicagroup.uk or alternatively residents can get in touch with their local town or parish council, some of which have kit to loan out, details of which can be found at: https://www.cotswold.gov.uk/environment/clean-and-green-cotswolds/ 

Information on how to get involved in this year’s Great British Spring Clean and for guidance how to litter pick safely, is available at: https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/great-british-spring-clean 

Contact Information

Cotswold District Council Communications Team

press@cotswold.gov.uk