Jam and Jerusalem... and cleaning up Britain!
Women’s Institute and the RSPCA back litter-picking drive – as 25,000 sign up
THE Great British Spring Clean received a tremendous boost yesterday as the number signed up to join in hit 25,000 – and the drive received the full backing of the Women’s Institute and the RSPCA.
Last year, 563,000 public-spirited volunteers took part – helping to cart away thousands of tons of junk that had been turning our country into a depressing rubbish tip, instead of a green and pleasant land.
This year, we hope to recruit even more – and have already scheduled 592 clean-up events in the coming 12 months.
Helping the cause this year will be the WI’s 220,000 members and 6,300 branches, all of whom are being encouraged to join in the mass litter-picking event, organised by Keep Britain Tidy and the Daily Mail.
While the WI is famous for ‘Jam and Jerusalem’, it has been a powerful force in the environmental movement. The issue of littering was first raised during one of their AGMs in the 1920s.
Lynne Stubbings, chair of the National Foundation of Women’s Institutes, said she was going to be urging all the WI’s members to roll up their sleeves and get litter-picking this spring.
‘Protection of the countryside has always been important to the WI and a resolution in 1954 to “Preserve the countryside against desecration by litter” brought about one of the WI’s most significant initiatives, leading to the formation of the Keep Britain Tidy group in 1955,’ she said.
‘The Great British Spring Clean inspires hundreds of WI members to take practical action out in their communities.
‘This year, WI members will again be bringing others together for beach cleans, litter picks and park clean-ups.
‘Public concern about our environment is at a high, and we are all looking for ways that we can help protect our world for the future.
‘At the WI we have always believed that there is tremendous power in individuals taking action in their own lives, and in coming together as a community to make change at a local level. The Great British Spring Clean is a chance for us to do just that.’
As well as being an eyesore, discarded plastic metal and glass packaging can pose a deadly threat to wildlife – which makes the RSPCA’s support so important.
The RSPCA warned that plastic packaging thoughtlessly dropped can spell a death sentence.
Every year, the charity’s emergency line receives more than 7,000 calls about litter-related incidents, with animals trapped or hurt.
In November last year, a muntjac deer in Newark, Nottinghamshire, was killed by a vehicle when it strayed into the road – after its head became stuck in a plastic bag. A discarded plastic pot or jar can result in cats being trapped.
Elastic bands also pose a big risk to small creatures as they can wrap around their bodies, or the beaks of birds, and cause choking.
RSPCA chief executive Chris Sherwood said that the charity’s 25,000 members were happy to get involved.
He said: ‘Litter is wreaking a terrible legacy on our wild animals.
‘The RSPCA deals with increasing numbers of mammals, birds and reptiles that have become entangled or affected in some way.
It’s up to every one of us to do our bit in the war against litter.
‘The RSPCA is proud to be once again supporting Keep Britain Tidy and the Great British Spring Clean. We are encouraging our supporters, staff, centres and branches to join in to help make a real difference to animals endangered by litter.’
This year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson kickstarted the campaign in Parliament – posing along with a Womble.
‘Come together as a community’