The mammoth efforts of people across Dumfries and Galloway to tackle the region’s litter problem has been recognised.
Nearly 600 tidy-up events took place between the middle of March and the end of April, including more than 350 litter picks.
And that has seen the council receive the Spring Clean Scotland Quaich in recognition of the work by communities, schools, business and the local authority.
Keep Scotland Beautiful chief executive, Barry Fisher, said: “The Spring Clean Quaich was last presented in 2014, but efforts to support the campaign over the past couple of years have been amazing and so this year, a decade later, we have brought it back to celebrate outstanding achievement and I am delighted that Dumfries and Galloway has won the accolade.
“Although 90 per cent of people agree litter is a problem across our beautiful country, what is inspiring is just how many thousands of people have played their part and enthusiastically joined a litter picking event during #SpringCleanScotland.
“I’d sincerely like to thank everyone across Scotland, but especially to Dumfries and Galloway Council for generating such enthusiasm across the area and dealing with the waste collected, and to all the volunteers who took part, giving up their time and showing just how much they care about keeping Scotland beautiful.”
Keep Scotland Beautiful encouraged people across Scotland to take part in litter picks, gather data and raise awareness of the litter emergency during Spring Clean Scotland.
In Dumfries and Galloway 590 events were registered, including 376 litter picks involving children, young people and educators in local communities and 35 businesses hosting litter picks.
Chairman of the council’s communities committee, Councillor Ian Blake, said: “We are delighted to have received this award from Keep Scotland Beautiful. It represents a tremendous amount of work across our region by council staff and the vast number of volunteers who took part in this year’s campaign – not to mention their efforts throughout the year.”
