School and scouts group in West Lothian amongst those recognised for efforts to clean-up Scotland
Almost 6,000 people took part in events across the local authority area
Litter picking groups in West Lothian have been recognised for their heroic efforts during this year's Spring Clean Scotland.
The collective effort saw almost 50,000 bags – a massive 325 tonnes – of litter picked throughout the campaign across the country.
Organised by environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful, Spring Clean Scotland is the country's largest coordinated mass litter picking activity and takes place over four weeks from March 21 to April 21.
Over 33,000 people – including 18,000 young people – took part in one of 2,600 events covering every local authority area in Scotland.
The Litter League, a competition for young people to get involved and compete for clean-up glory, returned for a third year and National award was won by B-Dale Explorer Scouts in West Lothian.
West Lothian Litter Pickers were recognised with a Spring Clean Scotland Heroes award for their efforts throughout the campaign, with 449 litter picks collecting 2,162 bags of litter.
Becky Gallagher from West Lothian Litter Pickers said: 'West Lothian Litter Pickers and West Lothian Council worked hard together to produce our most successful Spring Clean yet. We had approximately 445 events with 5,858 people who gave up their time to raise awareness and clean up their community and environment.
"As well as our amazing WLLP members, we saw lots of schools, clubs and businesses take part. The environmental impact of the Spring Clean was visually noticeable and we can only hope that it has made an educational impact on people's behaviour with regards to littering and fly-tipping.'
The Litter League, a competition for young people to get involved and compete for clean-up glory, returned for a third year and National award was won by B-Dale Explorer Scouts in Bathgate
Arlene Davies, B-Dale Leadership Team Member, said: 'We are delighted to win the National award this year. It is heartening to see our young people being recognised for their hard work and volunteering. As a unit B-Dale decided to work towards the Scout Community Impact badge identifying that West Lothian has a litter issue.
"With the support of West Lothian Litter Pickers and West Lothian Council our young people have managed to make a huge difference to our local areas. This is our first year as part of the Litter League and we hope our success encourages other Scout groups to take part in the future.'
Falla Hill Primary School in Fauldhouse were the winners of the Litter League Edinburgh and Lothians award, with 190 pupils taking part in a school litter pick and collecting 50 bags of litter.
Martin McCusker, Headteacher at Falla Hill Primary School, said: 'Under the drive and leadership of Ms Thomson and our Eco-Schools leadership group we have always been committed and dedicated to keeping our playground and community as litter free as possible. We are very proud that this year on year hard work has been recognised.'
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