A NEW campaign is aiming to keep Swindon town centre clean and tidy.

In partnership with Swindon Borough Council, inSwindon BID has launched Keep it Clean, an ongoing initiative with multiple projects aiming to achieve long-term, sustainable reduction in litter in the town centre.

“We all want Swindon town centre to be as welcoming as possible and we all have a role to play – as individuals and businesses,” said Di Powell, chief executive of inSwindon BID.

“Yet we face a constant battle to keep our streets clean and it’s a battle we cannot win without help from the public and town centre businesses. That’s why we’ve launched this campaign; people want to feel proud of where they live, work and shop.”

The clean-up will take place from May 20-24, when together businesses, visitors and residents will be educated on how they contribute to ensuring and maintaining a tidy town centre. Volunteers will meet at McDonald’s in the Brunel centre from Monday to Thursday and at Theatre Square on Friday.

Di said more than 60 new bins had been installed in the town centre in 2017 to stop people from throwing litter on the ground.

He added: “Our caretaker can easily pick up five bags of litter per day and a team from Wilko’s recently joined the inSwindon street team on its own town centre clean-up and collected 18 bags of litter and even a discarded Christmas tree in one afternoon.

“It was fantastic to see the team out and about, taking pride in the town centre they work in. And now, by bringing the community together, we’re hoping it will remind us all to keep our town centre clean.”

The community events will run in May and September and will include litter picking, washing street furniture, graffiti removal, housekeeping of planters and a general car park tidy-up.

The Keep it Clean campaign is supported by further annual projects provided by inSwindon BID, such hanging baskets, chewing gum removal and more.

Councillor Dale Heenan, Swindon council’s cabinet member for the town centre said: “Keeping our town centre safe and clean is a priority for the council and in inSwindon’s Keep it Clean campaign is another way of changing perceptions and improving the experience of those who want to visit our town.

“Many volunteers, like myself, took part in the Great British Clean-up last month in our suburbs and villages.

“InSwindon working with local businesses is a natural extension for our town centre so they have my complete support. The council will also be investigating the best way to remove all chewing gum marks from town centre pavements.”

Anyone who wants to get involved should send an e-mail to info@inswindon.com or call Rachael on 01793 485523.