Great British Spring Clean

Date: 

Thursday, 27 May, 2021

Council urges community involvement as part of Epsom in Bloom

Litter is a huge problem across the UK, causing harm to the environment and wildlife. Over the past year, Covid-related litter, such as face masks and gloves, have added an additional risk to both the public and to green spaces.

The Great British Spring Clean, from 28 May to 13 June, is a key milestone in Keep Britain Tidy’s calendar, encouraging thousands to help clear up their neighbourhoods.

For 2021, the charity is calling on volunteer ‘litter heroes’ to help it reach a target of a million miles of picking (#MillionMilesMission). All minutes and hours promised will be converted into miles and counted on the Great British Spring Clean website. On average it takes 20 minutes to walk or litter pick a mile.

The local community group, Keep Epsom & Ewell Tidy (KEET), has organised a borough-wide litter pick on Monday 31 May. The council are supporting this initiative by providing litter pickers and arranging for collections of the group’s collected litter from pre-arranged locations.

Councillor Neil Dallen, Chair of the Environment and Safe Communities Committee said “If you are one of the over 900 people who have signed up to the council’s litter picking pledge, we’re urging you to join in by undertaking the litter pick with KEET or on another day as part of the Great British Spring Clean”.

Epsom in Bloom is being run by the Council and Go Epsom as an entry into this years’ South and South East in Bloom competition. Judges award points for planting and flowers and also for environmental and community projects linked to Bloom: the more engagement the local community has with Epsom in Bloom, the better the result. Judging is due to take place at the end of June / early July.