Nottingham is getting ready for Keep Britain Tidy’s annual Great British Spring Clean event, and its very own team of Clean Champions litter pickers has an ambitious goal of collecting over 500 full bin bags of litter from Nottingham streets and parks during the campaign.
Bringing together individuals and community groups from across the city, the Clean Champions are the volunteers behind the distinctive purple bags of litter often seen beside bins and lamp posts in Nottingham’s streets and green spaces. As part of the national Keep Britain Tidy campaign, Nottingham’s Clean Champions will be completing “20 Picks in 20 Wards” – an organised group litter pick across every Nottingham ward.
To mark and celebrate the achievements of Nottingham’s Clean Champions, the Council House will be lit up in purple from 27 – 29 March, reflecting the iconic bags that have become a familiar sight across the city as volunteers work to keep Nottingham clean.
Every day, hundreds of volunteers across Nottingham give their time to care for their streets, neighbourhoods and shared spaces. Clean Champions come from all backgrounds and ages but share a simple goal: making Nottingham a cleaner place to live, work, study and visit.
Their impact is significant. In 2025, volunteers logged 7,020 purple bags of litter, representing 45.6 tonnes of waste removed from Nottingham’s streets and more than 4,200 hours dedicated to improving the city’s environment. The momentum has continued into 2026, with 965 bags logged in January and 1,083 in February, despite some of the wettest weather in recent years.
The campaign is supported by a wide range of partners. Businesses will be litter picking in the city centre, the Canal & River Trust will be working along the Beeston and Nottingham Canal, and volunteers from the Nottingham Council of Mosques, Sneinton Waste Action Group, Nottingham College, Nottingham City Council Housing Services, local schools and many others will also be taking part. Alongside the main “20 Picks in 20 Wards” events, around 30 additional litter picking events will take place across the city during the two-week campaign from 13 to 29 March.
Councillor Sam Lux, Executive Member for Environment and Sustainability, said: “Our Clean Champion volunteers do an incredible job helping to keep Nottingham clean and looking its best. Their dedication shows the pride people have in their neighbourhoods and the difference we can make when we work together.
“I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who gives their time to litter pick across the city. Every purple bag collected helps make our streets, parks and neighbourhoods cleaner places for everyone to enjoy.”
Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE, said: “We are so grateful for the amazing support from Nottingham City Council.
“The Great British Spring Clean is a fantastic way for councils to support residents to really show their pride in where they live, and connect with like-minded people, while taking serious and immediate action to protect the environment on their doorstep.
“We are humbled to see our army of Litter Heroes volunteers carrying out these acts of kindness to make the planet a cleaner, safer place for our future generations.”
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Notes to editors
- The annual Great British Spring Clean is the country’s biggest mass-action environmental campaign, now in its 11th year.
- In 2025, 485 local authorities and town and parish councils took part, with 108 MPs also pledging support.
- Litter Heroes across the country picked more than 462,000 bags of litter last year.