BORIS: LET’S SPRING CLEAN BRITAIN

As Mail asks YOU to join our inspirational litter clear-up... ... and look who’s come back to help!

The Daily Mail today once more calls on public-spirited readers to join the fight against the blight of litter. More than half a million volunteers signed up for the Great British Spring Clean last year – clearing streets, parks, beaches and countryside.

Organised with Keep Britain Tidy, the campaign was a huge success with 17,097 organised clean-ups collecting 957,377 bags of rubbish between them. It is thought to have been the biggest ever environmental action carried out in the UK.

This year we aim to make it even larger by enlisting up to a million volunteers for events running from March 20 to April 13.

Some experts have already been drafted in – with the Wombles coming out of hibernation to help reach our goal. Orinoco was pictured with Boris Johnson for the campaign’s official launch.

The Prime Minister said: ‘Litter blights our communities, spoils

our countryside and harms wildlife. Campaigns like these make a big difference to our planet and help ensure the UK’s beautiful countryside is preserved for generations to come.

‘I applaud the Daily Mail and Keep Britain tidy for calling on communities to come together and join the fight against litter.’

It is hoped the Wombles of Wimbledon Common will inspire a new generation to roll up their sleeves and clean up the things that ‘everyday folks leave behind’. readers can take part in organised spring-cleaning events – or start their own, either as a group or solo.

allison Ogden-Newton, chief executive of Keep Britain tidy, said: ‘the Great British Spring Clean is now an institution and one we are very proud of at Keep Britain tidy.

‘We are absolutely fixated with making litter-picking a sport, something every community can get involved with. the Wombles are back because we need them as never before. Many of our volunteers identify with and even call themselves Wombles so, for them and for us, it is great to have the Wombles coming out of hibernation.

‘Our environment is under threat from the waste that we produce and litter being chucked into the natural world, and we all have a part to play in reversing that damage.’

Fiona Nicholls, plastics campaigner for Greenpeace UK, said: ‘the hard work and people power it takes to clear the litter from a local park or beach is amazing. People are trying to do their bit... businesses and the Government must do the same, by setting plastic reduction targets to end the scourge of plastic pollution and to stop plastic fuelling the climate crisis.’

the Daily Mail has mounted a series of landmark environmental campaigns including turn the tide on Plastic, Be a tree angel and Curb the Cups. this newspaper also successfully pressed for the plastic bag levy that has slashed the number going to landfill and generated millions for charity.

THIS time last year the Mail asked you, our remarkable readers, to lead a fightback against the scourge of litter that blights our precious landscape and coastline.

We asked for 500,000 volunteers, scarcely daring to hope we could ever meet such an audacious target.

In the end we not only met it but soared past it, making the 2019 Great British Spring Clean – organised in partnership with Keep Britain Tidy – the biggest single environmental action ever known in this country.

A staggering 563,000 of you came together and collected 4,300 tons of litter from our cities, towns and countryside, making life infinitely more pleasant for us all.

But perhaps we shouldn’t have been so amazed by this thrilling response.

In Mail campaigns, from fighting plastic pollution to volunteering for the NHS, to becoming a Tree Angel, you have always exceeded our highest expectations. Your energy, community pride and social conscience have never been less than inspiring.

So today, we hope to tap into that deep well of public-spiritedness once again by launching a similar mission. And for the Great British Spring Clean 2020, our target is even more ambitious.

This year we hope to persuade one million volunteers to take part in the event, which runs from March 20 to April 13.

You can either join organised events, create a group of your own, or act as an individual to help clear up the environment around you. Details of exactly how to sign up are on page 5.

Even the Wombles – the original recyclers – have come out of hibernation to help spearhead the campaign, launched by the Prime Minister in Downing Street.

Indeed, so moved was Boris Johnson by the sight of Orinoco, that he began singing their theme tune ‘Wombling Free’.

Such is the enduring power of the ecowarriors of Wimbledon Common.

Last year, our backers included Sir David Attenborough, Prince William and Bill Gates. We hope that they and many more will take up the torch again.

But by far the most important people are you, the readers. You have demonstrated again and again your commitment to maintaining the long-term health of this cherished land.

What’s more, you have proved you are willing to roll up your sleeves and do something about cleaning it up.

So yes, raising one million volunteers is a bold ambition. But in light of your past achievements, we have no doubt you’ll get there.