- March –June 2012 – army of community-spirited volunteers to remove grime and litter ahead of 2012 Games
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and "Upstairs, Downstairs" actress Keeley Hawes today called on Londoners to roll up their sleeves and spruce up the capital ahead of the 2012 Games. The Mayor announced that P&G will sponsor P&G Capital Clean-up, a four month initiative which is bringing together an army of volunteers to pick up litter, remove graffiti and spruce up some of London’s unloved public spaces. The campaign supports Team London, the Mayor’s ambitious drive to get more people in the capital to volunteer.
This summer London will be welcoming 5.5 million visitors each day to the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the Mayor wants to ensure London looks its best. The Mayor wants to put the village back into the city by cleaning and greening London and improving our quality of life.
So far 11,000 volunteers have rolled up their sleeves and taken part in over 1000 clean up events. 4800 bags of litter have been removed, 3000 square metres of graffiti have been stripped clean and 9000 square metres of habitats have been spruced up. The Mayor is aiming for 1700 volunteers to take part in this latest burst of cleaning activity. To get involved go to www.pgcapitalcleanup.com to register and to find out about a clean up event near you.
The Mayor, Boris Johnson, said: ‘It is fantastic to have P&G on board for our biggest clean up yet. I want a great show of people power so visitors this summer are welcomed to a city which has been polished, scrubbed and cleaned to the nines.’
Irwin Lee, P&G UK & Ireland Vice-President & General Manager said: “We’re committed to helping London look its best ahead of London 2012 when the world’s attention will be on our Capital. Over the coming weeks, thousands of volunteers will roll up their sleeves to help make London a cleaner, fresher, stain free place and we hope that through the efforts of the P&G Capital Clean-up, the rest of the world will feel the pride that we all share for this great city.”
P&G Capital Clean-up ambassador and British actress, Keeley Hawes says, “As a Londoner born and bred I am so very excited to be involved in the P&G Capital Clean Up. It’s got a great sense of community pride which I think encompasses the London spirit of working together for a city we can be proud of this summer. I really hope we can encourage thousands of people to come together to help make their local London communities clean and fresh ahead of The London 2012 Games.”
Today the Chewing Gum Action Group also launched the “Do your country proud…bin your gum” public information campaign, which will run throughout March and April in 15 selected local authorities, including seven in London. This is calling on everyone to play their part in creating a cleaner, better Britain ahead of the Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee by putting their gum in a bin. The Mayor worked with London Councils to secure government funding towards the initiative for London.
Notes to editors
- For more information go to www.pgcapitalcleanup.com to register and to find out about a clean up event near you.
- Team London is the Mayor’s ambitious programme to mobilise an army of volunteers across the capital to improve life in London through programmes that will reduce crime, increase opportunities for youth and improve quality of life by cleaning and greening London and building stronger neighbourhoods. Since 2008, the Mayoral volunteering programmes and dedicated Londoners have joined together to reach a 100,000 volunteering milestone
- Capital Clean Up forms part of the Mayor's plans to support widespread clean up events across the city. Last month Kulveer Ranger, the Mayor's Environment Director helped kick off the Big Waterways Clean Up 2012 to clean up East London's rivers and canals. The Mayor also supports Love Clean London which enables Londoners to report environmental crimes by text message or on the website www.lovecleanlondon.org
- It is estimated that cleaning litter, graffiti and fly tipping from London’s streets costs around £100million per year to clean up. 24 per cent of Londoners consider litter to be one of the most problematic issues affecting the quality of London’s environment. (Source Annual London Survey 2011)
- The “Do your country proud…bin your gum” advertising campaign is funded by the Chewing Gum Action Group which is a joint initiative between the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the chewing gum industry and Chartered Institution of Wastes Management. Its aim is to achieve a long-term solution to the irresponsible disposal of chewing gum.
For media enquiries please call Nicola Dillon in the Mayor’s Press Office on 020 7983 4066. Numbers not for publication.
For out of hours media enquiries please call 020 7983 4000. For non-media enquiries please call the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.