Report by Medway Council on the success of the Great British Spring Clean with a huge thank you to all our Friends Groups:
Friday 28th May – Sunday 13th June saw Medway Council support the annual #GreatBritishSpringClean in partnership with Keep Britain Tidy.
Under current government guidance, we were unable to promote the event in quite the same way as we have in previous years. We had to ensure groups contained no more than 30 participants and advise that social distancing and health & safety measures were understood and adhered to.
We contacted all ward Councillors, asking if they would kindly volunteer and coordinate litter-picks within their individual wards. We had a terrific response, with 22 Councillors pledging their support and organising a date and time for their volunteers to attend a clean-up.
Adding the Councillor events to other local interest groups and individuals pledging their support, there was a total of 31 litter picks organised during the Great British Spring Clean.
We designed and distributed new H&S risk assessments and lent groups our newly purchased litter pickers. All members of the environmental engagement team were instrumental in delivering equipment, logging events and ensuring collections and attending litter-picks.
We were delighted to join forces with Maidstone Borough Council to complete a cross-border litter pick, and also welcome volunteer teams from McDonalds as well as attend events with our own families and other volunteer groups.
Medway Norse did a fantastic job of collecting all the waste gathered at the end of each organised event.
Below is a summary of numbers of volunteers, bags collected and social media stats:
| Number of events | 31 | ||
| Number of participants | 253 | ||
| Number of bags collected | 312 | Weighing 1.8 Tonnes – That’s the weight equivalent of 19 baby elephants!! | |
| Number of miles walked | 913 | That’s the distance from Medway to Hungary!! | |
| Minutes pledged | 18300 | Over 12.7 days! |
| Social Media Platform | Number of Posts | Impressions created |
| Facebook – Environmental Team Page | 15 | 13420 |
| Twitter – Medway Recycles Page | 16 | 12227 |
| Twitter – Climate change page | 14 | 8668 |
| Instagram – Climate change page | 6 | 467 |
| Total | 51 | 34782 |
We have been delighted with this year’s success and positive impact that the Great British Spring Clean has had on local communities and the environment, particularly under continuing challenging circumstances.
We look forward to supporting and promoting even more events next year.
Medway Urban Greenspaces Forum 