BIG Spring Clean back to tackle litter in County Tyrone

The annual event is now Northern Ireland’s largest community clean-up and gathers tens of thousands of volunteers to either take part in scheduled litter-lifting events, organise their own clean-up or signal their support for the campaign by adding a signature to the Live Here Love Here website.This year’s BIG Spring Clean, which runs until April 30, already has over 20 events lined up with events scheduled to take place at Grange Park Omagh on March 25 and Dungannon Park on March 29.Most of the clean-ups focus on tackling the long-standing litter problem in Northern Ireland, which results in waste materials polluting our waterways and beaches, before making their way into the sea.Recent survey findings released by the campaign’s parent organisation Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful in their Marine Litter Report showed that, on average, 762 items of litter were found per 100 metres of beach surveyed, up from 375 items the previous year.

Helen Tomb, manager at Live Here Love Here said: “Whilst litter remains a constant challenge, we take huge encouragement from the growing cohort of volunteers who actively initiate and participate in clean-ups all year round. We are hoping to see another great turn out right across Northern Ireland for this year’s BIG Spring Clean. Last year we had over 40,000 people take to the outdoors to do their bit for the environment and many of them continued to look after their local areas throughout the rest of the year.”

Find out at www.liveherelovehere.org/bigspringclean