The Global Fight Against Litter - Keep Wales Tidy

The Global Fight Against Litter:

Keep Wales Tidy

Keep Wales Tidy is a charity which works across Wales to protect the environment. They recognise the benefits that a clean and tidy environment has on health, communities, and the economy.

They deliver campaigns, environmental education, and training across Wales, and they also carry out research to monitor the state of parks, beaches, and the waters around Wales.

Where did the charity come from?

The idea behind Keep Wales Tidy originated in the 1950s, when the focus was on restoring pride in the UK after the war. There was an increasing litter problem, and Keep Britain Tidy was founded by the Women’s Institute.

Keep Wales Tidy were launched in 1972 and became an independent charity in 2005.

The Keep Wales Tidy timeline

1990:     The Blue Flag Award was launched in Wales for beaches

1994:     The Eco-Schools programme launched in Wales to get children involved

2002:     The Green Flag Award for Parks launched in Wales

2008:    The Tidy Towns initiative was launched in Wales

2012:     Keep Wales Tidy celebrated its 40th anniversary

What do Keep Wales Tidy do?

Eco-Schools

Eco-Schools is an environmental education programme which is run in Wales by Keep Wales Tidy. The programme is led by students, and it is designed to educate and inspire young people to make positive changes within their school and local community which will benefit the environment.

The programme is funded by the Welsh Government and is completely free for schools run by Local Authorities.

Tidy Towns

Tidy Towns is a community initiative funded the by Welsh Government and run by Keep Wales Tidy.

It aims to inspire people to run clean ups, plant flowers and trees, and grow food to restore pride in their local area.

Coast Care

This is a volunteer programme which helps to support people to work to reduce marine pollution. Beach clean ups and other activities are used to get everyone involved in caring for the coastline.

Litter champions

Litter champions are volunteers who are supported by Keep Wales Tidy to make a difference to their community by organising litter picks. They are provided with support, equipment, and insurance from the charity.

Be Tidy

Every September, the big Be Involved, Be Proud and Be Tidy clean up campaign is held

It runs throughout September and gives people of all ages the opportunity to volunteer and to come together to make their community look beautiful.

Long Forest

Keep Wales Tidy work with the Woodland Trust to plant and maintain trees and hedgerows.

Natural Buzz

This initiative helps to protect bees and butterflies in Wales by improving and protecting their habitat. Without them, our agricultural economy, food supply and landscapes would suffer.

Keep Wales Tidy have transformed unused sites into beauty spots, full of wildflowers and they have given grants to schools so that they can do the same.

Yellow Fish

The charity is encouraging schools and community groups to help them to improve the water quality around the River Clun.

They are running a campaign to stop people from pouring oil, paints, solvents, or chemicals into drains. People don’t realise that anything that is poured into drains can end up in the sea, and can poison fish and kill marine plants.

Schools are helping to raise awareness by marking drains with a yellow fish.