Banking staff show their support for Clean Glasgow

A GROUP of workers from Clydesdale Bank were happy to arm themselves with litter pickers in support of Glasgow’s largest ever clean up campaign. 

The hardworking team of 10 employees came together to spend a day cleaning up Garscadden West Woodlands, in the north-west of the city, on Thursday, August 2.

Organised by Scottish Business in the Community, in support of Glasgow City Council’s new £4m campaign, the event was aimed at developing team-working and leadership skills in Clydesdale Bank’s human resources personnel.

As one of the first businesses to back Clean Glasgow, the team, which comprised staff from offices in Glasgow, London and Leeds, hopes its involvement will spur other companies to do the same.

Launched in February, Clean Glasgow aims to instil pride in the city’s residents and businesses, while clamping down on those who break the law by littering, fly-tipping, spraying graffiti and allowing their dogs to foul streets and parks.

Campaign bosses believe stamping out such anti-social acts - which cost the City Council a staggering £17m in unnecessary spending annually to clean up - will protect Glasgow’s growing reputation as one of Europe’s most cosmopolitan cities and a renowned centre of excellence for both business and pleasure.

Glasgow City Council leader, Councillor Steven Purcell said: “The success of Clean Glasgow to date has been significant. The people of Glasgow have shown a great deal of enthusiasm and commitment toward the campaign, which has inspired many to adopt a greater sense of pride in our city.

“Therefore, we must build on the progress made in the first six months of the campaign by continuing to enforce the message that litter louts, fly-tippers and irresponsible dog owners will be caught and fined.

“It is my aim to ensure that Glasgow’s global reputation is one of a clean and vibrant city and the foundation for that is making it clear to all that selfish acts of anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated.”  

Irene Swankie, Clydesdale Bank’s Community Affairs Manager, said: “When Scottish Business in the Community offered us the chance to support the Clean Glasgow campaign we were very keen to become involved.

 “As a company, we take our responsibility of engaging with the communities in which we operate seriously and encourage our people to work with them to make a positive impact. We hope that this will encourage other Glasgow companies to come on board and play their part in cleaning up their city.”

James Tindell, from Scottish Business in the Community, said the clean up was an excellent example of what can be achieved when companies choose to invest staff time in community projects.

He added: “SBC is the primary route for business to get involved in their communities. We regularly broker relationships between the public and private sectors to make this happen and the staff at Clydesdale demonstrated total commitment to the Clean Glasgow campaign.”

Businesses or individuals who would like to get involved in community clean up events in their area are urged to call the Clean Glasgow hotline on 0800 027 7027 or visit the website at www.cleanglasgow.com.

For more information on Scottish Business in the Community's Team Challenge Programme please click here.

Issued by the BIG Partnership on behalf of Glasgow City Council. For more information please contact:

Graeme Watson on 0141 333 9585 or 07944 620 001

Emmy Young on 0141 333 9585 or 07967 632 628