Sutton Council’s Clean Streets Sutton anti-litter campaign has won the Community Relations Campaign of the Year at the UK Public Sector Communications Awards 2016.
The UK Public Sector Communications Awards celebrate and reward excellent communication strategies and campaigns, teams and individuals in local and national government, emergency services and not-for-profit bodies from across the UK.
The Clean Streets Sutton campaign, a six-week anti-littering campaign earlier this year, won the Community Relations Campaign of the Year award for “a campaign that has informed or engaged a specific community in a successful and effective manner which can demonstrate improved engagement, positive action and/or change in behaviour”.
At the prestigious awards evening at The Emirates Stadium in London on Thursday 14 July, Sutton Council was up against campaigns by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, and Hampshire and Surrey County Council and Southampton City Council among others.
The visual and colourful Clean Streets Sutton anti-litter campaign ran through March and April 2016. It used a number of novel ways to encourage High Street visitors who drop litter to change their behaviour. These included bringing superheroes Batman and Superman to Sutton to encourage smokers to deposit their cigarette butts in cigarette ballot bins outside High Street pubs by casting their vote on who the best superhero is, Batman or Superman, and whether Leicester City would win the Premier League.
A total of 110 Sutton businesses signed pledges to reduce litter around their shopfronts and business premises. The pledge set out simple steps to reduce litter including reducing packaging, installing new bins, and reporting problem areas to the council.
Initial results show an overall reduction of 22 per cent in the amount of litter on Sutton High Street between March and May 2016. The amount of chewing gum dropped on the High Street pavement reduced by just over two-thirds (68 per cent). There is now 30 per cent less cigarette litter than before, and till and ATM receipt litter has fallen by just over one third.
Mary Morrissey, Strategic Director of Environment, Housing and Regeneration at Sutton Council, said:
“We are immensely proud of our latest award and thank everybody involved for their efforts in helping keep Sutton a clean and green borough. The Clean Streets Sutton campaign shows how it is possible to change behaviour towards litter by using fun, imaginative and creative ideas to get the green message across.”
Sutton Council is now looking to roll out the campaign to other areas across the borough.
Sutton Council’s Clean Streets Sutton campaign has won the Community Relations Campaign of the Year at the UK Public Sector Communications Awards 2016. From left, Amy Houldey, Campaign Manager, Recycling at the London Borough of Sutton, Andy Green, Founder, AG Creativity, and Victoria Jeffrey, Head of Local Place and Engagement at the London Borough of Sutton
Sutton Council’s Clean Streets Sutton anti-litter campaign has won the Community Relations Campaign of the Year at the UK Public Sector Communications Awards 2016.
The UK Public Sector Communications Awards celebrate and reward excellent communication strategies and campaigns, teams and individuals in local and national government, emergency services and not-for-profit bodies from across the UK.
The Clean Streets Sutton campaign, a six-week anti-littering campaign earlier this year, won the Community Relations Campaign of the Year award for “a campaign that has informed or engaged a specific community in a successful and effective manner which can demonstrate improved engagement, positive action and/or change in behaviour”.
At the prestigious awards evening at The Emirates Stadium in London on Thursday 14 July, Sutton
