What is community litter picking?
Community litter picking is a great way to tackle litter in your local area and helps bring the community together. If you love where you live and would like to get involved in community litter picking, we would love to support you.
The council does not run any volunteer litter pick community groups. That means that litter pick organisers and volunteers are not working for or acting on behalf of the East Hampshire District Council. They are therefore not covered by the council's liability insurance and the council will not be liable or responsible for any losses, damages, claims, expenses, injuries etc. resulting from litter picking. Volunteers should not participate in litter picks unless they fully understand all of the risks associated with this activity and are happy to proceed on that basis.
Remember even an activity as simple as litter picking requires: gloves, jackets, bags and waste disposal and a sensible risk assessment especially if you are near a road. These are important to keep you safe and East Hampshire District Council would always encourage you to join a formal recognised group. They will be able to provide:
- Health and Safety advice and precautions
- Equipment
- Insurance
- Training for your group activity
- Risk assessments
- General support
Given the above, if you want to litter pick but don’t know where to start, you should get in touch with a community litter picking group that is local to you. You may also find information and local community litter picking groups by searching online search engines and social media groups.
The safety of volunteers is paramount so we would recommend that you check with your local group what health and safety procedures they have in place to support their volunteers, including what risk assessments and insurance cover they have.
Litter picking on land not owned or managed by us
Volunteers should not participate in litter picks unless they fully understand all of the risks associated with this activity and are happy to proceed on that basis.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you hold all necessary consents, licences and permissions before you litter pick on land not owned or managed by East Hampshire District Council. This could include your need to obtain consent from the owner of the land on which you propose to carry out your litter picking activity.
It is also your responsibility to ensure that you dispose or arrange for the disposal of any collected litter lawfully and appropriately. Hence, it is your responsibility to ascertain how this can be done. There is more information below about litter collection and how the council can help.
Anyone interested in volunteering may wish to visit the Keep Britain Tidy or Litter Action websites for further information.
Litter picking on land we own or manage
If you would like to litter pick on land owned or managed by East Hampshire District Council you will still need to make sure that you fully understand the risks and are happy to proceed on that basis. In addition, you will need to let us know and obtain or provide the following:
- An electronic agreement for the litter picking signed by East Hampshire District Council (If you are interested in obtaining a draft copy of the above written agreement please contact community@easthants.gov.uk)
- A copy of your risk assessment
- A copy of your group’s public liability insurance cover with a limit of indemnity of at least £5m (which will need to be reviewed and agreed by East Hampshire District Council)
- A location map of the area you would like to litter pick
- A copy of your organisation's constitution
This information should be emailed to community@easthants.gov.uk at least four weeks before you would like to litter pick. East Hampshire District Council will review your application and subject to its absolute discretion it will either accept or reject your application. If accepted the council will sign and date the written agreement and issue a copy to you.
You can view an interactive map of the land that we own and manage. Please note that this map is not intended to be definitive and East Hampshire District Council shall make the final decision on whether or not any land falls within its ownership or management.
Litter collection
Our partners, East Hampshire Norse, can arrange for collection of any rubbish from your litter picking event.
In order to arrange this please contact: ehdcenvironmentalservices@easthants.gov.uk (please note, EHN is only able to collect litter Monday to Friday).
General health and safety
The information set out in this webpage (as provided by the council) is intended to be general in nature only. Any persons interested in carrying out a voluntary litter picking activity should obtain their own health and safety, and legal advice (as applicable) if they are unsure as to any aspects of this activity.
Volunteers may wish to visit the following websites before embarking on litter picks:
Funding
If you are part of a charity or local not-for-profit organisation and need funding to support your litter picking, for example to purchase equipment or to cover start-up costs for your new group, then you may be eligible to apply for one of our Councillor Grants (grants are given subject to East Hampshire District Council’s sole approval and discretion).
The Councillor Community Grant Scheme is a budget of £7,000 allocated to each district councillor to support local voluntary and not for profit organisations within, or that benefit, their ward.
Terms and conditions
Please review the following terms and conditions around our support for community litter picks.
- Litter picking terms and conditions.pdf (378.65 KB)
Privacy notice
For information on how we will use the data you provide, please visit our service privacy notices page under 'litter picking'.