3 cheers for 300k litter stars

Clean-up campaign passes an astonishing new milestone

MORE than 300,000 volunteers have signed up to take part in the Great British Spring Clean – each providing an extra pair of hands in the nationwide tidy-up.

The milestone figure was surpassed ed yesterday – less than a month after the he first call went out for recruits to join the he clean-up campaign, which the Daily ly Mail is running in partnership with h Keep Britain Tidy.

A staggering 309,812 of you have now w signed up to take part in the month-long g initiative, running from March 20 to April il 13, after a boost in numbers from Britain’s - biggest housebuilder.

Barratt Developments pledged 6,500 staff ff to join in the fight against discarded rubbish - and is planning a litter-pick on the banks of the Grand Union Canal, in Hayes, west London, a trouble spot for littering g by walkers and canal-side drinkers.

Chief executive David Thomas said: ‘We’re delighted to support the Daily Mail’s Great British Spring Clean campaign. Across the country our teams get volunteering leave and are already encouraged to use it for litter-picking and clearing public space. We want to play our part in making Britain beautiful which is why we’re backing this great campaign.’

Last year the Great British Spring Clean enlisted almost 600,000 people across the country to take part in litterpicks. This was a huge rise on 2018, when 370,000 people took part collecting rubbish at 13,500 events across the UK.

This year, however, we would like to go above and beyond – surpassing 600,000 and hoping to get as close to a million volunteers as possible.

Last night Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, chief executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: ‘To recruit more than 300,000 Litter Heroes within four weeks of launching the campaign is astonishing.

‘It shows just how much people care about protecting our environment and are willing to do something that will make a visible difference.

‘But we need more people to join them. Whether it’s organising a community clean-up or simply pledging to pick up some litter as you go about your daily life, everyone can support the Great British Spring Clean.

‘Our environment needs us all to show it some love and the Great British Spring Clean is the perfect way to do just that.’

Volunteer numbers have already received a significant boost from the likes of schools and councils across the country. The National

Trust put out a call to action to its 5.5million members, while McDonald’s pledged 2,500 staff members to take part in litterpicks around its branches after admitting it ‘could do more’ to tackle the issue of litter.

The UK’s largest banks have also answered the call to action. Lloyds Banking Group, Santander, HSBC and Nationwide have all pledged thousands of employees to volunteer. And the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has even urged Christians to ‘litter-pick for Lent’. For the first time the Church of England called for its members to do something for the environment for Lent instead of more traditional gestures.

‘Shows how much people care’