Litter-picking legends called upon to make Wigan's spring clean the best yet

In its seventh year, Wigan-based Keep Britain Tidy’s campaign calls on families, neighbours, friends, businesses and colleagues to join forces to pledge to pick a bag of litter from nearby streets and beauty spots in order to protect our vibrant communities and build a cleaner, greener borough for all.

Running from March 25 to April 10, the council will be supporting volunteers, friend groups, schools and sport clubs who want to help tidy our streets, parks and green spaces.

Coun Paul Prescott, cabinet member for environment, said: “Each year our residents show that together we can achieve great things when it comes to the Great British Spring Clean.

“Last year we supported over 350 volunteer groups to get involved and gave our borough a fantastic community spruce up.

“Given the right resources, litter picking can be accessible to everybody and we’re happy that our teams are able to provide everything you need to get going.”

This year, more than 25 organised events are being planned across the borough.

Residents are free to organise a litter-pick of their own or get involved with one which has already been arranged.

Coun Prescott added: “Being outdoors can do wonderful things for our mental wellbeing, which shone through during the pandemic.

“Grabbing your litter-picker can be a wonderful way to give back to the community while enjoying the surroundings we have on offer to us.

"If we all collect just one bag, we can make a big difference!”

Currently, more than £4m is spent each year by the local authority to take litter off our streets, parks and greenspaces – including fly tipping, something that blights our environment.

The dedicated campaign runs in conjunction with the normal day-to-day litter pick collections which are carried out by the council’s Street Scene teams throughout the year, whatever the weather.

Combatting litter remains a top priority for the council and the Draft Litter Strategy outlines the proposed aspirations developed from the Big Listening project and included in Deal 2030, to make the Wigan borough litter free by 2030.

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