Countryside Clean-up: September 2020

The Countryside Alliance is delighted to announce that the annual Countryside Clean-up has been rescheduled to take place on 19th - 20th September 2020 following earlier postponement due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Building on from the success of this initiative over the past two years, we are urging all of our members and supporters to engage with this community event by taking part in dedicated litter-picking sessions across the country over the two-day period. Whether this be conducted on your own, with your family or in a social-distancing manner with a larger group, we are encouraging everybody who respects the countryside to take part in this initiative to clean up the countryside.

With the long period of lockdown offering people the opportunity to have a clear-out, fly-tipping and littering in the countryside became one of the many negative side-effects of the pandemic, particularly when local waste recycling centres were shut.

We are only asking for a small amount of your time and do not expect anybody to dedicate the entire weekend to the cause, although the more people we can all motivate to take part, the greater the impact we will have. Of course, if you are unavailable on these dates, we still strongly encourage you to spare some time whenever it is convenient.

"There are few things that annoy us as much as mindless littering and our supporters have always been keen to take practical steps to clean up their part of the countryside," explained Tim Bonner, Chief Executive of the Countryside Alliance. "Relying on one part of the community to clear up after another is not a satisfactory solution to littering and fly-tipping, however in previous years our supporters have cleaned up miles of roadside verges, footpaths and open spaces and I am sure the same will be true again this September."

Why should I take part?

Not only is discarded litter an eyesore, it is bad for the environment and is also potentially hazardous to farmed livestock, wild animals and domestic pets. We all have great respect for the countryside, and this is just a small way in which we can demonstrate how important it is for us to ensure that it remains a wonderful place to live and visit. Once you have had the chance to get organised, please let us know the details of your litter-picking plans by filling in the form on our website, which can be found here.

After the event, we would love to see any photographs or videos taken of your volunteers hard at work, or standing alongside any bags of refuse that have been accumulated as well as to receive details about how many people took part in your litter pick. You can send all of this information over to us at [email protected]

Further details regarding our Countryside Clean-up weekend will be available closer to the time via email. You'll also be able to follow updates on our website as well as via our social media channels, so make sure that you're following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.