Merton Council is encouraging residents to take up their brooms and don their rubber gloves as part of its Street Champions scheme on Saturday 13 September at 10am -12pm.

Tying in to the national ‘Let’s do it!’ campaign, an initiative set up to encourage people to work together to eliminate litter in their local area, the council’s waste enforcement team and Merton’s Street Champions will carry out two clean-ups on the day. The clean-ups will take place around Morden and Mitcham, focusing on areas including Bishopsford Road, Wandle Road, Morden Road, Love Lane (Mitcham), Miles Road and Fieldgate Lane. The Morden clean-up crew will meet at Morden Road, on the junction of Wandle Road, and the Mitcham clean-up will start at Mitcham Parish Church.

Anyone wishing to take part in the clean-ups should register their interest by calling the council’s enforcement team on 020 8545 3189 or by logging on to the Let’s do it! website where the two clean-up events are registered. Merton Council will hand out litter picks, gloves and bags on the day. There will also be an opportunity to sign up to become a Merton Street Champion.

Street Champions can be people who want to get involved in local clean-ups and tackle environmental crime issues or people who just want to report issues such as broken street lights or signs and make suggestions for areas that need improvement. Many residents have got involved in previous clean-ups around the borough including the Big Spring Clean that was organised by the council and the local Merton Matters group earlier this year.

Through the clean-ups and the Street Champions scheme, the council wants to shout loud and clear that there is no excuse for dropping litter on Merton’s streets. The council spends over £5million every year clearing the streets of litter, fly tips, graffiti and other environmental crimes. That is money it could spend on other services to benefit the community.

Merton Council cabinet member for environmental cleanliness Councillor Judy Saunders said: “Merton is a great place to live but a small minority of people continue to litter our streets. Our clean teams are out around the clock clearing up litter and fly-tips. We know the vast majority of people look after where they live, but we want to crack down on the few who spoil the local environment for the rest of us. We are encouraging residents to stand up to those who litter by getting involved in their local area and becoming a Street Champion. If getting out and about to clean up isn’t your thing, you can still become a Street Champion by being the eyes and ears of the community and reporting issues that need to be addressed.”

-ENDS-

Notes to editors:

1. People can report street cleaning issues by downloading the Love Clean Streets app or visiting merton.gov.uk/streetcleaning.
2. Let’s do it! began in Estonia in 2008 when a few people decided to do something to tackle litter in their forests and got 50,000 people together to collect 10,000 tonnes of waste.
3. Let’s do it! events have taken place in over 100 countries around the world – creating a global network of anti-waste movements that has united 10,000,000 volunteers.
4. This year, Let’s do it! UK will be carrying out a nationwide clean-up day on Saturday 13 September.