Join us on a Great British Spring Clean from 21 March to 6 April

Great British Spring Clean 2025

One bag makes a BIG difference

Could you help us make a difference in your local community as we continue to work together to tackle litter in our district?

DDC is looking for volunteers to sign up for this year’s Great British Spring Clean campaign (GBSC) which officially starts a week today, on Friday 21 March.

The annual spring litter picking event, organised by Keep Britain Tidy (KBT), calls on everyone to come together and help to make Britain cleaner and greener.

Now in its tenth year, KBT is encouraging communities to unite in showing that they love where they live by pledging to pick a bag or more to clean up the country's streets, parks and beaches. DDC plans to support the campaign fortnight once again by rallying our own district’s volunteers and taking local action.

The council spends £1.5m each year on street cleansing and regularly runs local campaigns encouraging residents to pick up after their dog, use the local bins and take their rubbish home. Unfortunately, though, there are still some who don’t dispose of their litter responsibly.

DDC fully appreciates the efforts of local voluntary groups who offer their continued help and celebrates the many residents who do care.

Residents can join us at one of our pop-up litter picking events across the district or organise their own litter picking event. The Council will arrange to pick up any rubbish that is collected.

We will also be supporting the campaign with fun and educational games and competitions, and by acknowledging residents who support their local environment through our REACH Awards.

DDC will be:

• Hosting a two-week litter picking tour across the district with the Community Roots van. The environmental and community teams will be on hand with litter picking equipment, fun games to educate younger visitors and information to help residents reduce, reuse, repair and recycle.
• Teaming up with our refuse, recycling and street cleansing contractor, Veolia Environmental Services, to host a design competition. Residents aged under 18 are being asked to get creative and design a Veolia vehicle poster that will encourage people to ‘do the right thing and put their litter in the bin.’
• Launching our REACH (Recognising Environmental and Community Heroes) Awards for the fourth year, following a successful campaign over the last few years.

Cllr Jamie Pout, Cabinet Member for Environmental Services, said: “There is nothing more frustrating than seeing litter when we’re out and about, blighting the local area. Littering is an ongoing problem for which we are continuously looking to find solutions.

“By shining a spotlight on nuisance littering in our district - as part of this nationwide campaign - we are calling out this minority behaviour, as well as highlighting the good work of the Council, our contractors (Veolia UK) and regular volunteers who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure a cleaner district that we can all be proud of.

“Together we can make a big difference by taking part in the annual Great British Spring Clean.”

Note to editors

More information on the GBSC campaign can be found at www.dover.gov.uk/GBSC and on the Keep Britain Tidy website www.keepbritaintidy.org