Love Where You Live 2011
Wigan Council recently signed up to be an Ambassador Authority for the Love Where You Live campaign. We all love something about where we live and we are very happy to be partnering with Keep Britain Tidy.
Our aim is to inspire individuals, businesses, schools, groups and organisations to think about their communities and take pride in where they live, work and play. The council hopes that people will pledge their support for the campaign by working with friends, neighbours or colleagues to organise events and make improvements in their local community.
Clearing up litter across Wigan Borough costs around £3.5 million every year. This comes from people who live in the borough and we want to reduce this so this money can be spent on other things which would benefit us all.
Wigan's Love Where You Live campaign begun on Monday 17 October 2011 with a launch in Wigan Town Centre. Litter was not cleared up over the weekend to show just how much litter people throw on the floor, a big part of this being the nightime economy. Pupils from three local schools came along to help tidy up the mess created. Schools included Mab's Cross Primary, St Mary & St John Catholic Primary and The Deanery High. Wish FM and the BBC came along to the event to help spread our message.
Big Tidy Up 2010
Pupils celebrating after taking part in the 'Big Tidy Up' at Alexandra Park
April 2010 saw the re-launch of Keep Britain Tidy’s Big Tidy Up, the country's biggest ever tidy up. Neighbourhood Teams worked with schools, communities and businesses across the borough to get as many people as possible helping to clear up our borough.
A massive 2,225 people took part in the Big Tidy Up throughout April and May. Over 30 litter picks took place with over 800 bags of litter collected from our town centres, streets and parks.
School involvement
As part of the campaign, we visited 13 primary schools to speak to pupils about the Big Tidy Up and many of the pupils carried out their own litter picks to support the campaign. They were also invited to take part in a competition to design a litter picking or recycling robot. St Luke’s Primary, in Lowton, created the winning robot, ‘Recyclestein’ and received a £300 prize to buy environmental equipment for their school.
How to get involved
The Big Tidy Up is an ongoing campaign and tidy ups can be carried out throughout the year. Anyone can carry out a Big Tidy Up - individuals wanting to clean a local grot spot or part of a larger group such as local residents, uniformed groups, businesses, schools, church groups.
Neighbourhood Teams can supply litter pickers, gloves and bags by arrangement although our supply is limited so this will depend on availability. Therefore, we encourage you to make use of any litter picking equipment you may already have. We can also arrange for your rubbish to be collected at the end of your tidy up.
If you would like to carry out your own Big Tidy Up, click on the link below to register your tidy up on the Big Tidy Up website. Once you have registered, you will be provided with posters, stickers, tabard bibs and badges together with some top tips and guidance on carrying out your litter pick safely.
Anti dog-fouling 2010
Council Officers with Mark Calvert (Dogtastic) carrying out a responsible dog ownership session at St George's Central C.E. Primary
During September 2010 Neighbourhood Teams ran an anti dog-fouling campaign across Wigan Borough. Wigan Council receives many complaints every year about dog fouling which is why we carried out this campaign. The main aim of the campaign was to reduce the amount of dog fouling left on our streets and in our parks. As well as this we wanted to raise awareness of the issues associated with dog fouling and ensure that people are responsible dog owners. The areas we targeted during our campaign were chosen using the following:
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Complaints to Wigan Council's Streetcare Helpline
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Surveys carried out by council officers
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Feedback from street cleansing supervisors
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Consultation with members of the public
School involvement
During the campaign we visited 17 Primary Schools and delivered assemblies to 3,500 pupils. We discussed the environmental and health issues associated with dog fouling. The main health problem is Toxocariasis which can cause blindness. You can do to the following things to make sure this does not happen:
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Clean up after your dog has fouled
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Make sure your dog has been wormed
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Keep your dog away from children's play areas
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Always wash your hands after playing outside
Some schools were also visited by 'Dogtastic' and his dog. These sessions were a fun way to reinforce our message in school and to demonstrate responsible dog ownership.
