Funding a litter-picking Station in your community

Are you fed up of seeing your local spaces strewn with litter and plastic? Do you worry about the impact of this on the environment? Would you like to enjoy your local park, beach or beautiful space more?

2 Minute litter picking stations have been shown to reduce litter by 61%. They not only provide the tools for people to do a quick litter pick, but also inspire people to take action, and care for their local spaces.

Stations are built to last and come with litter pickers and recycled tent bags so they have everything your community needs to care for the places you love.

Stations start from £400.00 for a wall mounted version. A simple A-frame station with starter pack of litter pickers and bags is £550.00. There are various options so please do get in touch - stations@2minute.org. Worried about how to raise this? Don’t be, we have easy tips to get you started:

Approach your local Council

If you think that litter is a problem in your local community, it’s likely that others do too. A good first step is to approach your local councillor, whose contact details should be available on your local council website. Tell them about the problem and that a 2 Minute Station could help to reduce litter in your local area (they have been shown to reduce litter by 61%).

It might also help to have asked other people in your local community if they agree – whether that’s other mums or dads at the school gate, people in the park or our enjoying the beach. Maybe use social media channels to fund out people’s thoughts if you have a community Facebook page or something similar. If your councillor knows that it’s a local problem that many people agree with, they will be more inclined to take action.

Your local councillor should also be able to let you know whether your local council has opportunities for you, as a member of the public, to speak at a meeting, or to submit a petition. If starting a petition, do collect people’s addresses so that your council can see that people live in the local area.

Your Council might decide that they wish to purchase a Station directly from The 2 Minute Foundation – which would be fantastic – they would then be responsible for looking after this in your local area. Ask them to get in touch Simon at stations@2minute.org for more information, or enquire via our website.

Grants and donations from the Council

Most councils have some grant money set aside (albeit limited) to support activities that benefit the residents of the town. You can generally find this information out through a quick google of your local council. For example, a small town in Devon had the following information on the Town Council Website:

‘EACH YEAR THE TOWN COUNCIL SETS ASIDE AN AMOUNT OF MONEY TO ENABLE IT TO MAKE GRANTS TO LOCAL ORGANISATIONS WHICH BENEFIT THE RESIDENTS OF THE TOWN.  IN 2021/22 THIS AMOUNT IS £15000.  IF YOU THINK YOUR ORGANISATION MAY BENEFIT FROM A GRANT, WE WOULD ASK THAT YOU READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS WHICH PROVIDES ALL THE INFORMATION YOU WILL NEED TO PROVIDE WITH YOUR APPLICATION.’

Sometimes, individual councillors also have a set amount of funds to use at their discretion to support local projects. These are often called ‘Locality Budgets’ and another google search might help you find further information. For example, both Devon and Suffolk County Councils state in 2022 that each of their county councillors has annual locality budget of £8,000 to use to respond to local needs. You might need to identify The 2 Minute Foundation (registered charity no 1185614) to receive the funds on your behalf but your local councillor should be able to provide advice.

If a station is paid for by a grant in this way, it won’t directly be owned by the Council, so you will need to think about a local business or organisation who might look after the Station for your community.

Local Businesses

Talk to your friendly local café, ice-cream or fish and chip shop and see if they would be willing to support their community by having a litter picking station. Talk to the businesses near to your local space that needs help and see if they would be willing to look after the station and put it out every morning. There are some great benefits for them too, as it will show customers that they care about their local community and they could offer promotions to everyone who does a litter pick – for example a half price coffee, but then who can’t resist buying a bit of cake too! It can also be some great local PR for the business and get them in the local paper/social media pages.

If your local business would like to buy a Station directly put them in touch with us or tell them to enquire through our website. Otherwise, galvanise your community to fundraise and the business can simply take care of the Station.

Your local School

Talk to your local school about whether they would look after a community litter picking station. Sometimes they are near your local park or your local streets that need some cleaning up! Plus, there are loads of educational benefits from the children learning about the environment (we can help with this) and caring for their local area. Would they do a dress down day at school and ask for £1 or £2 per child to fund a station? Or could each child bring in some chocolate and you could run a chocolate tombola for £1 a go. If your school already has an environmental club they might like to get involved and come up with ways of fundraising at the school?

Fundraise for your Station

Whether it’s a cake bake, sponsored fun run or litter pick there are many ways for your community to fundraise directly for a Station. If you need an online fundraising page you can set one up here by choosing the 'Become a Fundraiser' option, where you will also get a unique QR code that people can scan and donate to you directly from their phones. To keep within Charity rules please make sure that you make it clear to supporters that their donations will go towards funding a litter picking Station in your local area.

Good luck with funding for a Station for your local community and thank you for caring about our beautiful planet. And, if we can help in any way, do get in touch info@2minute.org