Cleaning up green spaces

Thanks to the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, during the most challenging of years, Keep Britain Tidy has been able to continue its work to ensure that everyone, no matter where they live, can be proud of the environment on their doorstep and love where they live.

Research shows that for parks and open spaces to be accessible for everyone, they need to feel safe and this goes hand in hand with them being clean and well-managed.

This is where Keep Britain Tidy steps in. Its work, supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, helps individuals, communities and organisations who want to ensure that, when people step out of their front door, the environment walked into is one of which people can be proud, feel good about and benefit from.

In autumn 2020, tens of thousands of volunteers supported the charity's flagship campaign the Great British Spring Clean, hastily rearranged back in March and renamed the Great British September Clean. Between them, these volunteers collected tonnes of litter.

Its volunteers, as well as the environment, felt the benefits of the campaign, with a massive 79% agreeing that taking part helped improved their mood and more than half saying it helped them to be more active.

In spring 2021, once again, Keep Britain Tidy will be encouraging everyone to love where they live, to do their bit and ‘pledge to pick’ so that everyone can all be proud of their patch.

Keep Britain Tidy’s work is making a difference every day. Its #LitterHeroes Ambassadors programme, which owes its existence to the support of players of People’s Postcode Lottery, brings together – albeit virtually in recent times – ambassadors across the country; volunteers who lead litter-picking and environmental improvement in their communities all year round, acting as advocates for change and leading by example.

But clearing up litter is only a small part of the work of Keep Britain Tidy. Long-term change is needed and a huge part of this is educating the next generation in the hope that they can do a better job of protecting our environment, both locally and globally, into the future.

The Eco-Schools programme, supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, benefits hundreds of thousands of children and young people and is ensuring that, no matter what the current challenges, the next generation still has the opportunity to learn about their environment and how they can make a difference.

Eco-Schools has moved into a virtual world and the award-winning Eco-Schools at Home project has given every family in the country the means by which they can explore how their actions impact their environment and easy ways to make small changes that can, collectively, make a big difference.

Over £2 million has been raised for Keep Britain Tidy thanks to players of People's Postcode Lottery.