Following a competitive bid process, we are delighted to have been awarded grant funding of just over £21,000 by Keep Britain Tidy and the Chewing Gum Taskforce to remove gum from streets in Elmbridge, Mole Valley and Surrey Heath over the coming weeks.
The work, estimated to take around 15 days in total, is scheduled to start in Leatherhead on Sunday 18 August before moving on to Walton Road in Molesey and the Parade in Claygate, finishing in Frimley, Bagshot, and two locations in Camberley – Heatherside Arcade and Dean Parade. The clean-up will provide a boost for residents and local businesses, and hopefully keep the streets gum-free for some time afterwards.
We are one of 54 organisations across the country that have successfully applied to the Chewing Gum Task Force, now in its third year, for funds to clean gum off pavements and prevent it from being littered again. The Task Force is funded by major gum manufacturers including Mars Wrigley and Perfetti Van Melle, with an investment of up to £10 million spread over five years.
Established by Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and run by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, the Chewing Gum Task Force Grant Scheme is open to councils across the UK who wish to clean up gum in their local areas and invest in long-term behaviour change to prevent gum from being dropped in the first place.
If the exercise is a success and evaluates well, it could pave the way for further bids in other areas, as the Chewing Gum Taskforce allows repeat applications from organisations that have been successful in previous years. Watch this space!