Benefits of Street Champion Schemes
With the government’s ‘Big Society’ and the localism agenda, it seems likely that street champion schemes will have a major part to play in improving local environments in the future. Keep Britain Tidy’s research into existing street champion schemes highlighted the many benefits they can bring:
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Improvements in the local environment through reductions in levels of litter, graffiti, fly-posting and similar issues, and resulting efficiency gains for local authorities
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By tackling local environmental issues through clean-ups and other community activity, volunteers have the opportunity to develop valuable new skills and experience; this could benefit the long-term unemployed and help to address the issue of worklessness
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Street champion schemes will raise awareness of the impact of local environmental issues, potentially leading to changes in behaviour
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Street champion schemes empower people to make a difference in their local area; this can lead to increased satisfaction with the area and a higher reported quality of life
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An inclusive street champion scheme has the potential to strengthen community cohesion, and bring together different segments of the community who might not otherwise come into contact with each other: young people and retired people; people from different ethnic backgrounds; people with disabilities and ‘hard to reach’ groups.
