Clean Our Patch CIC have become only the third organisation in Plymouth to achieve the status of Diamond Award, as part of Plastic Free Plymouth.
“The Diamond Award is a recognition of the work we have done towards becoming more plastic-free as an organisation— not just when we are picking litter, but ensuring that even our social occasions with our volunteers, our awareness stalls and all the events in which we participate aim to avoid single use plastics,” said Clean Our Patch co founder Ashton Samuels.
“This award is a great opportunity to say thanks to our volunteers and our community partners, and to highlight the fact that real cultural change around single-use plastics is possible.”
For the last four years, Plastic Free Plymouth have been working with the Surfers Against Sewage Plastic Free Communities project to gain Plastic Free Community status for the city of Plymouth.
They achieved the status for the Waterfront area in June 2018, and then went on to gain citywide status a year later in June 2019, working closely with SAS, and with the citywide Plan for Plastic to tackle single-use plastic wherever possible through the Interreg funded Preventing Plastic Pollution project.
They already have over 300 businesses, community groups, individuals and schools working towards being Plastic Free, and are still welcoming new partners. Further information can be found at environmentplymouth.org/plastic-free-plymouth
Clean Our Patch CIC signed up to the campaign shortly after it was launched in 2018 and quickly gained Bronze status with the help of dedicated volunteers. The organisation went on to secure Silver and Gold Awards and after a charter review received its Diamond status in August, joining only two other organisations to achieve this since the programme’s development.
Ash added:
“We host over 40 litter picks a month, encouraging the wider public to get involved, as well as working with businesses to clean up around their sites and encouraging the maintenance of this.
“We also work with schools and community organisations to educate them about the devastating affect of plastic pollution and what we canall do to make a difference in not only our communities, but in our everyday lives.
“We are excited about the future and wish to be at the forefront of the cultural shift in Plymouth.”
