A long-running environmental charity, based in Wigan, that runs the Great British Spring Clean, Eco-Schools, the Green Flag Award and the Blue Flag beach awards across England.
Keep Britain Tidy is one of the UK's best-known environmental charities. Its aim, in its own words, is to "inspire, educate and enable people to value and protect the environment on their doorstep". It runs well-known programmes such as the Great British Spring Clean, a national litter-picking campaign, Eco-Schools, an environmental education programme for schools, and the Green Flag Award, a quality mark for parks and green spaces. It also runs awards for beaches, volunteering programmes such as Litter Heroes, RiverCare and BeachCare, and campaigns like Buy Nothing New Month.
The charity traces its history to 1954, when the Women's Institute passed a resolution calling for a campaign against litter in the countryside. A group chaired by Lady Elizabeth Brunner followed, and the 1958 Litter Act is largely credited to its work. It registered as a charity in 1960, and its mascot Tidyman appeared in 1969. Over the years it has launched Eco-Schools in England in 1994 and the Green Flag Award in 1996, and in 2011 it merged with Waste Watch. It says it is independent and longstanding and that it wants to speak up about big environmental issues, including calling for a deposit return scheme.
In the UK, its registered office is in Wigan, at Elizabeth House, The Pier, Wigan WN3 4EX. It works across England, with programmes in the East of England, South West, West Midlands and North West, and local partnerships such as Keep Manchester Tidy and Keep Liverpool Tidy. Over 1,000 English schools hold an Eco-Schools Green Flag and over 2,200 English parks have a Green Flag Award, according to the history summary. Separate sister charities carry out similar work in other parts of the UK, including Keep Wales Tidy and Keep Scotland Beautiful, which we mention only to help you find them.
The charity's pages describe "an army of volunteers" and thousands of people taking part in its programmes, with ambassadors such as Pat "Action Nan" Smith featuring in its stories. Famous names such as the Wombles, Sir Richard Branson and music acts of the 1970s have supported its campaigns. It uses humour and mascots, and in 2022 launched Tidybot, an AI chatbot on its website. It also sells training, conferences and behaviour change services to councils and land managers. These are descriptions by the charity and the sources we read, and we do not know the staff culture.
Working at a charity like this can mean running education programmes for schools, judging and managing awards, working with councils on clean streets, researching litter and behaviour change, coordinating volunteers, or looking after fundraising, communications and finance. Some roles are field-based and regional. If you are interested in how places feel to live in, or how to change habits at scale, this is a good place to see it done. The charity's own website lists current vacancies.
Website: www.keepbritaintidy.org
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