It may be three years away but residents of the Olympic host boroughs are going for gold in an attempt to rid their streets of litter, graffiti and grime in time for London 2012.
Clean-up operations have been taking place throughout, Newham, Greenwich, Hackney,Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest as part of the annual Capital Clean-Up campaign, which aims to encourage Londoners to take responsibility for the quality of their local environment, and take action to improve it.
So far, areas that have been blitzed include Green Street in Newham, where over 100 businesses made a commitment to promoting the anti litter message to their customers as well as maintaining their patch of the busy high street.
Launched in April, the campaign is focused on making improvements to local environmental quality by changing the attitudes of local people about litter, and encouraging them to take pride in their communal spaces, for the Olympics in the short term and the future well being of the capital from there onwards.
Events coming up include a large scale canal clean up through Hackney and Tower Hamlets as well as Greenwich.
Rachel Bailey, chair of the Capital Clean-Up campaign said: “The whole community have got stuck in and taken an active role in improving their patch, and this is what the campaign is about, improving the environment in London for 2012 and beyond.”
Phil Barton chief executive keep Britain Tidy said: “The campaign is rooted in the community, and the work in Olympic boroughs is an excellent example of this ethos, as the residents have taken ownership of local litter and grime hotspots and turned them into areas to be proud of.”
Supporters of the campaign include Capital Standards, Keep Britain Tidy, London local authorities, the Metropolitan Police, Thames 21,London 21, London Probation and sponsors Veolia Environmental Services.
The campaign runs until Friday June 5th.