Keep Britain Tidy

Description

Keep Britain Tidy is an independent environmental charity that works to inspire, educate and enable people to value and protect the environment where they live, in England.

Through national campaigns, programmes, research and innovations, it encourages and supports communities to reduce resource use, waste and litter and to live more sustainably, and to improve the quality of public spaces. Its programmes include Eco-Schools, the Green Flag Award for parks and green spaces, and the Blue Flag and Seaside Awards for beaches. It runs annual campaigns such as the Great British Spring Clean and Buy Nothing New Month, and mobilises volunteers through its Litter Heroes and RiverCare and BeachCare programmes. It uses its position as a longstanding charity to advocate for change on major environmental issues.

The charity was originally set up in 1955 by a conference of 26 organisations, an initiative of the British Women’s Institute following a 1954 resolution to start a national anti-litter campaign. It has changed its name several times, becoming Tidy Britain Group in 1987 and ENCAMS after a 2002 merger with Going for Green, before reverting to Keep Britain Tidy in 2009. It merged with the charity Waste Watch in 2011.

Keep Britain Tidy once managed Keep Scotland Beautiful, Keep Wales Tidy and Tidy Northern Ireland, which became independent devolved organisations in 2004. It has offices in Wigan and London.