Creating a cleaner and greener city

21 April 2010

RENEW Communities across Stoke-on-Trent are set to be part of a major clean-up operation.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is organising the biggest citywide clean-up in its history on Thursday 22 April and Friday 23 April for the city’s Cleaning and Greening Days.

More than 300 staff from the city’s environmental services team and the Future Jobs Fund will be joined by over 250 community and private sector volunteers from organisations such as the British Waterways, Michelin, Groundwork and Community Payback. Together, they will be working across around 80 sites from 7am until 7pm to clean up the city’s streets, parks, open spaces and town centres.

The idea is to make Stoke-on-Trent a cleaner and greener place, and this initiative is the first in a series of events that will enhance green spaces and tidy up key areas across the city.

Chief Executive John van de Laarschot will be visiting one of the clean up sites on the day, and said: “This is about making Stoke-on-Trent a place that can stand up and say ‘we have clean and green streets for everyone in the city’ and showing the community we are committed to keeping things that way.

“It should be the start of a series of events that gives people confidence in the city council to keep the city looking good and making sure we care for our environment.

“Once Cleaning and Greening Day is done, we want to hear from people who have spotted areas around the city that do need tidying up. We want people getting involved, telling us where their hotspots are and what needs to be done.

“We want people to feel part of this and take real pride in their city by volunteering to help our teams and working with us to address the real problem areas where they are.

“Residents now need to do their part to make sure Stoke-on-Trent stays clean and green. We need people to stop throwing litter out of cars, stop getting rid of sweet wrappers, cigarette ends and crisp packets when they are walking on a pavement, and stop fly tipping because they think it’s the easy way to get rid of waste. We can’t afford to let this keep happening if we want to clean up our city. The city council can only enforce what we see, it’s up to the people who live and work here to change the culture and take responsibility for their actions when it comes to their environment.

“Our main aim is to get the city council, all our partners and the community working together to make the city a better place.”

Agencies working with the city council on the day include:

• Michelin
• Seddons
• JCB
• Amey
• Highways Agency
• Community payback
• Schools
• Groundwork
• Love Stoke
• Fire Authority
• P M Training
• Business in the Community
• CSV Youth Action
•  British Waterways
• YMCA
•  Local Community groups/Residents Associations