The Prime Minister has lent his support to Clean for The Queen, a Country Life initiative in which villages, schools, businesses, urban communities and special-interest groups are being urged to sign up to helping rid the whole country of litter before Her Majesty’s 90th birthday on April 21 and official celebrations in June. ‘I’m delighted that West Oxfordshire [my constituency] is joining the UK’s biggest anti-litter campaign,’ says David Cameron. ‘It really is a special event and has provided great momentum for communities to gather together and do our bit to clean up and get our country looking fit for a queen.’
Campaign director Adrian Evans hopes to get one million people joining in for a dedicated weekend of clearing up on March 4–6. The idea for Clean for The Queen was born in a conversation between Country Life Editor Mark Hedges, Melissa Murdoch of the Garfield Weston Foundation, which is generously supporting the campaign, and the team from Keep Britain Tidy.
It’s backed by Environment Minister Rory Stewart, who says he hopes the weekend will protect wildlife, improve the quality of streets and public places and leave a legacy of a cleaner Britain, as well as television presenter Kirstie Allsopp and bodies including the RSPB, the CPRE and the WI. Employees of Macdonalds, Wrigley, Greggs and KFC will be joining in the clean-up.
Special-edition litter bags will be available next month, through local authorities and some Waitrose and Costa branches. To find out how to organise a local litter-picking session, visit www.cleanforthequeen.co.uk
London Mayor Boris Johnson is also supporting Clean for The Queen and is donating 100 special kits with litter-pickers, gloves and bags. Grants of up to £1,500 are available for his Capital Clean-up scheme (www.london.gov.uk/cleanup); last year, 4,600 volunteers contributed 17,000 hours, clearing 315 tons of waste in London.
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