Reach and Keep Britain Tidy campaign sees 451,800 bags of rubbish pledged

Reach plc and environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy have published record results for the 2026 Great British Spring Clean, which the two ran as a media partnership.

More than half a million volunteers, 585,000 in total, signed up as ‘Litter Heroes’ and pledged 451,800 bags of rubbish.

Reach, the largest commercial news publisher in the UK and Ireland and owner of titles including the Manchester Evening News and Liverpool Echo, treated the campaign like a major national news event.

It co-ordinated coverage across print, digital and social channels, with local activity through its regional titles and the InYourArea community platform. Targeted digital ads were used to recruit volunteers and sign up schools.

Making it ‘Cool to Care’

Around 30 million tonnes of rubbish is dropped in the UK each year, at a clean-up cost to taxpayers of £1 billion. Rather than lecture the public, the campaign set out to make it “Cool to Care”, presenting litter picking as a badge of honour and a national movement.

The campaign produced 2,051 media clips and 11,430 social media mentions.

It reached 265,984 school pupils, over 100,000 more young people than in previous campaigns.

It also won the backing of 518 local councils, 50 MPs and 40 elected members. The then Prime Minister joined a litter pick in his constituency, and an awards ceremony at Westminster was attended by Mary Creagh CBE, Minister for Nature.

Coverage focused on real-life stories, including that of Georgie-May Tearle, who took up litter picking as part of her recovery from breast cancer.

Campaign ambassador Julia Bradbury appeared on the front page of The Mirror when the campaign launched. Reach staff also used corporate volunteering days to join local litter picks with community groups.

Partners on the results

Helen Bingham, director of communications at Keep Britain Tidy, said: “The Reach team understands not only our brief, they are indeed a dream to work with… this partnership has helped us articulate the good news story behind the issue; the volunteers rolling up their sleeves and setting an example for the rest of the country, the large-scale support from businesses and community organisations, and the incredible impact we make – nearly half a million bags of litter collected in 2026.”

Reach’s national direct business lead Guy Keeble said: “As a champion for the people and their communities, Reach partnered with Keep Britain Tidy on this initiative to bridge the gap between national news and local action on the litter crisis. From Print and Pixel to Participation, we secured engagement at national and local levels, in government and in schools. This campaign hasn’t just cleaned up the country today, but changed habits for tomorrow.”

He added: “The results highlight the unique capability of Reach’s portfolio to blend national scale with trusted, hyper-local influence, proving that co-branded, purpose-driven media partnerships can deliver both massive commercial reach and community value.”