Keep Britain Tidy
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| Founded | 1960 (as registered charity) |
|---|---|
| Type | Charitable organisation |
| Registration no. | A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales number 3496361, Registered charity number: 1071737 |
| Location |
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Area served | England and Wales |
| Website | www |
Keep Britain Tidy is a UK-based independent environmental charity.[1] The organisation campaigns to reduce litter, improve local places and prevent waste. It has offices in Wigan, Greater Manchester,[2] and London.
History
Keep Britain Tidy was originally set up by a conference of 26 organisations in 1955. The conference was initiated by the British Women's Institute after a resolution was passed at its 1954 AGM to start a national anti-litter campaign.[3]
In 1984, Keep Britain Tidy became a limited company and three years later it became the Tidy Britain Group.
In 2002, it had another name change – this time it became ENCAMS — short for Environmental Campaigns. This reflected the fact that the campaign no longer concerned only litter, but now also extended to the question of cleanliness of beaches, as well as the Eco-Schools programme. In 2006, the ENCAMS regions devolved and from then on concentrated their work solely in England.
In June 2009, the campaign changed its name back to Keep Britain Tidy, also introducing a new logo highlighting the IT within BRITAIN, reading "Keep It Tidy" as well as "Keep Britain Tidy". The "tidyman" logo is still used in public campaigns, alongside campaign straplines such as "Let's keep it tidy!" and "Help keep it tidy!"[4]
Following a year-long strategic alliance, in 2011 Keep Britain Tidy merged with the environmental charity Waste Watch. Both the Keep Britain Tidy and Waste Watch names were retained in the merger, but Keep Britain Tidy became the trading name.
Timeline
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1954 Led by its chair, Lady Elisabeth Brunner, the National Federation of Women's Institutes passes a resolution to "Keep Britain Tidy".
1958 For the first time, The Litter Act puts in place an overall law with fines of £10 for people dropping litter.
1960 Keep Britain Tidy registers as a charity and company limited by guarantee.
1969 The tidyman logo appears on bins and packaging around the UK.
1970s Public information films and high profile national campaigning, including many popular faces of the day has a marked impact on attitudes towards littering and awareness of the Keep Britain Tidy brand. (ABBA, The Walt Disney Company, David Cassidy, Marc Bolan and Morecambe and Wise).
1971 The Dangerous Litter Act increases maximum fine for dropping litter from £10 to £100.
1977 "Clean for the Queen" campaign launched for the Queen's Silver Jubilee.
1980s Throughout the 1980s the charity continues to deliver high-profile campaigns supported by famous faces such as the Bee Gees, Roland Rat, Terry Wogan, boxer Frank Bruno and comedian and DJ Kenny Everett.
1987 the charity changed its name to Tidy Britain Group.
1987 The charity Waste Watch launches, with an aim to get the UK to reduce, reuse and recycle its waste.
1987 The Blue Flag Award launches across England.
1989 National Spring Clean Day with The Wombles, two million people take part.
1989 People & Places programme launches, the forerunner to the current Keep Britain Tidy Network.
1989 "Real rats" poster campaign is launched.
1990 The Environmental Protection Act (1990) defines standards of street cleanliness for the first time.
1990 "Tidy Britain Year" is launched by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
1991 First People & Places Awards ceremony, the forerunner to the current Keep Britain Tidy Awards.
1992 Seaside Awards launches.
1994 Eco-Schools launches in UK.
1997 The Green Flag Award launches in England, with awards given to seven parks. Now 1,424 Green Flags fly across the UK.
2000s Many hard-hitting campaigns are delivered through the decade including: "No, tough and bull" dog fouling campaign (2001), "Rats cinema ad" (2003), "While you"re Down There" (2005), "Don"t be a Gimp" cinema ad (2005) and "Dirty Pig" (2008).
2000 Waste Watch campaigning results in establishment of Government backed waste reduction programme.
2001 RiverCare programme launches, followed by BeachCare in 2010 and WatersideCare in 2011.
2002 Tidy Britain Group changes its name to ENCAMS — short for Environmental Campaigns.
2005 The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (2005) tightens the definition of littering and introduces Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs).
2008 The Big Tidy Up launches.
2009 The charity changes its name back to Keep Britain Tidy and introduces a new logo highlighting the "IT" within "BRITAIN", reading "Keep It Tidy" as well as "Keep Britain Tidy". The "tidyman" logo is still used in public campaigns.
2010 "There's no such thing as the dog poo fairy" campaign launched.
2011 Charity Waste Watch and Keep Britain Tidy merge.
2011 The Love Where You Live campaign is launched to the public. The campaign logo includes an updated version of the tidy man logo featuring a heart.
2012 Keep Britain Tidy's supporters showed the world they love where they live by clearing up their local area ahead of the Olympic torch relay passing through.
2013 Cleaning up litter costs taxpayers almost £1 billion a year in England. Keep Britain Tidy highlights this through the "Which side of the fence?" campaign.
2013 Keep Britain Tidy is featured in "Our Dirty Nation" a BBC One Panorama documentary on litter.
2014 Keep Britain Tidy launches the Litter Prevention Commitment for businesses, as well as the "We're watching you" dog fouling campaign for land managers.
2014 The Wombles join forces with Keep Britain Tidy again to clean up littered areas, as part of a campaign sponsored by Waitrose.
2015 The charity celebrates 60 years of the "Keep Britain Tidy" brand by holding a prestigious dinner and awards ceremony for its supporters at Liverpool Cathedral.
2016 'We're Watching You' dog fouling campaign is voted by The Guardian newspaper as one of the best campaigns of 2015.
2016 'Clean For The Queen' is launched to prepare for Queen Elizabeth II's 90th Birthday celebrations.
Programmes
Keep Britain Tidy runs a number of programmes in England, including Eco-Schools, Seaside Awards, BeachCare, RiverCare, WatersideCare, LOVEmyBEACH, Keep Britain Tidy Network, Love Parks, Big Tidy Up, Green Flag Award for parks and green spaces and the Blue Flag Award for beaches. Keep Britain Tidy managed Keep Scotland Beautiful, Keep Wales Tidy and Tidy Northern Ireland until 2004, at which point they became independent devolved organisations. The Eco-Schools and Blue Flag programmes in Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland are now run independently by these devolved organisations.
See also
- Clean Up Australia
- Clean Up the World
- Keep America Beautiful
- Keep Australia Beautiful
- TIDY Northern Ireland
- Keep Wales Tidy
References
- ^ "Keep Britain Tidy, registered charity no. 1071737". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
- ^ "Contact Us". Keepbritaintidy.org. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
- ^ "Women's Institute". Womens-institute.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
- ^ "Our History". Keepbritaintidy.org. Retrieved 2012-01-04.