Cleaning up nicely: Litter experts The Helping Hand Company wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade

The Helping Hand Company’s mission to rid the world of litter has been rewarded with a Queen’s Award for Enterprise for international trade after growing its export business by 750% in just six years.

The manufacturer of litter clearance tools, which supplies more than 90% of local authorities and waste contractors in the UK, now exports its litter collection hand tools and environmental educational support services to over 20 countries worldwide.

The Herefordshire-based business, which sells its professional waste collection tools through its HH Environmental division, has defied the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, more than doubling its overseas sales from £450k to £986k between 2016 and 2017 alone.

HH Environmental has built large customer bases in France, Holland, Denmark, Belgium and Ireland and is developing distribution channels in Australia, Germany and Spain.

The company works with local authorities, community groups and charities and commercial partners keen to boost their CSR activity, in the UK and beyond.

Labelling itself as a ‘litter consultancy’, HH Environmental provides and tools and promotional material needed for organisations to launch their own litter picks and ant-litter campaigns.

It works with dozens of campaigning bodies in the UK including Keep Britain Tidy, Keep Scotland Beautiful and Keep Wales Tidy, and has taken a similar approach in Europe in the last five years, developing partnerships with clean up action organisations such as Nederland Schoon in Holland, Limburg.net and Mooimakers.be in Belgium.

HH Environmental has worked with 346,012 litter pick volunteers in the first three months of this year alone.

The company also designs and manufactures bespoke clean-up solutions for unique problems such as a Belgium waste management contractor that is looking for a way to segregate litter as it is collected along the highways to increase recycling rates.

Lara Bryant, VP sales and marketing at The Helping Hand Company, said: “Our mission is to get rid of all the world’s litter – which would mean we’d have no business, but it’s what we want.

“We support organisations and individuals in tackling litter scattered on pavements, carparks, greenspaces, beaches, rivers and motorways – we need to turn the tide.

“By recycling just 50% of all litter thrown on our streets today, we could save £14.8million pounds every year or £40,547 a day.

“We have seen a big increase in people getting actively involved in clean-ups and much greater awareness since that amazing Blue Planet series just over a year ago.

“It has had an astonishing impact.”

HH Environmental’s recent expansion has been supported by the recruitment of an environmental Export Sales Manager and administrator in February 2014, who together have driven the rapid growth of sales across the EU and beyond.

The company’s products are manufactured at its base in Ledbury, Herefordshire, using sustainable materials and packaging that can be recycled wherever possible. A massive 97% of all HH Environmental’s production waste is recycled.

All the litter pick tools have been carefully designed, tested and refined over many years to ensure efficiency and durability with recycle kits which can extend the product life cycle by 300%.

“We are not the lowest priced product, but we know our customers do not want a single use item” said Lara.

“Organisations choose us because they know they can rely on the quality of the products which are made in the UK using a sustainable and ethical manufacturing model and the added value we provide as a ‘litter consultancy’ advising on funding streams for litter picks and campaigns, educational material and charity partners. We don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk too”

HH Environmental has partnered with the Eco-Schools litter education scheme which has engaged 19.5 million children across 67 countries, making it the largest educational programme on the planet.

The company prides itself on successfully combining commercial enterprise with socially responsible action which facilitates environmental campaigns.

“We are an adaptable business that is not solely focused on the commercial gain of a product sale but more on a sustainable relationship with our customers. This approach makes us unique in our industry,” said Lara.

“We are committed to promoting environmental awareness today for our world tomorrow. Working alongside the Eco Schools programme and other local environmental education initiatives is a central focus for us – doing something as simple as a litter pick is a great way to engage children in learning about litter.”

The Queens Award is just the latest in a string of accolades for the HH Environmental branch of the business, including Green Apple Hero Award 2013 & 2014, CIWM Sustainability & Resources 2015, Guardian of Public Spaces 2016 and Business of the Year 2017.

Helping Hand Win Queen’s Award for Enterprise

The Helping Hand Company is absolutely thrilled to announce we have been awarded a Queens Award for Enterprise 2019 for International Trade.

In recognition of our outstanding continuous growth over the last 6 years in overseas trade of 750% in Litter clearance equipment, Environmental education and consultancy services.

A trusted partner to many Local Authorities and Waste Contractors in the UK, the company’s fast growing export sales have defied the uncertainly surrounding the Brexit vote.

Immensely proud of the team – together, we make a difference every day in helping protect our planet for future generations.

#QueensAward #International Trade #CommercialLitterEquiment #EnvironmentalEducation #VolunteerLitterPicking #BuyBritish #NotSingleUse #HerefordshireMeansBusiness #HelpingHand

And the Winners are….

It has taken Helping Hand 2 days to read all the nominations for our competition #SpringClean toolkit. From setting up a Litter Hit squad in school; community groups that are out Litterpicking every weekend; a family out litterpicking  every day – you are our #LitterHero – thank you.

Every nomination has been put into the hat and the following 10 are the lucky winners of a #SpringClean Toolkit – on its way to you before Easter…

1. Maxine & Eliott  – nominated by Julie Riviere
2. Cheetwod Primary – nominated by Emma Green
3. Lee Pelham – nominated by Lee Juney
4. Gorsley Goffs Primary – nominated by Katharine Sharp
5. Barnoldswick Glitterati – nominated by Heather Sheldrick
6. Volunteers of Ferguslie Park – nominated by Darkwood Crew
7. Street Champion Clare Southern – nominated by Rachel Harrison
8. Chailey Litter Pickers – nominated by Janet Caughley – this group has collected over 1,100 bags of litter!
9. Glasgow Kelvin College – nominated by A Markopolous
10. Erskine Community Garden – nominated by Heather Clissett

Can we personally congratulate the 93 nominees for all the outstanding work you do – you are all winners making a difference. Don’t forget to tag & share your stories – and watch this space for new campaigns coming up in 2019.

#BuyBritish #Litterpickers #HelpingHandEnvironmental

Government funding gives Local Authorities a #HelpingHand

The immediate cash boost of £9.75 million will back local authorities efforts in cleaning up high streets and town centres, has come as a welcome boost!

This fund will help English councils to:

• Recognise their #LitterHeroes with litterpicking equipment and community hub kits

• Increase the segregation of litter to improve recycling rates #RecycleontheGo

• Purchase greener innovations to improve productivity around litter collection #PerfectHighStreets

• Support community groups and schools with environmental education tools and resources #LittleLitterHeroes

• Donate funding to support Parish Councils initiatives #PartnershipWorking

• Plan for ‘National High Street Perfect Day’ in Summer 2019.

If you’d like to find out more on how other authorities are applying their funds and to speak to a real person, please give us a call on 01531 635678 or email the green team sales@helpinghand.co.uk and we will call you back.

#PerfectHighStreets #RecycleontheGo #HelpingHandCommunity

UK Government launch £9.75 million fund to clean our high streets

• Every local authority in England guaranteed money to spend on litter clearance equipment and training
• Ahead of ‘National High Street Perfect Day’ later this year, a community-led clean-up to make sure high streets look their best

Councils across England will receive an immediate cash boost from a £9.75 million fund to back their efforts in cleaning up high streets and town centres, Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP confirmed the funding on 16 March.

This fund is only been made available to English councils in partnership with existing community groups will be able to use this one-off funding to support volunteers. They will be able to buy tools such as litter pickers, gloves and brushes and provide training for residents on how to remove graffiti or tackle fly-tipping, as well as organise events to encourage more families to get involved.

The funding will give local authorities an opportunity to do more, encourage communities to take greater pride in their local area and support campaigns such as Keep Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean Campaign running from 22 March to 23 April and their own local campaigns and BID communities.

Communities Secretary Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP said: “High streets are at the centre of our communities, and as places that are well loved, they sometimes need a bit of a spruce up to look their very best.
That’s why we will be providing councils with £9.75 million to work with community groups who need that extra money to give their local high street a spring clean, making sure their town centres are really spick and span.
Today’s announcement supports commitments in the Government’s Litter Strategy and will also prime councils and communities ahead of the ‘National High Street Perfect Day’, a locally led and funded community clean-up planned for this summer”

The first ever High Street Perfect Day will take place this May in Altrincham, Great Manchester, a winner in the 2018 Great British High Streets awards. High Streets Minister Jake Berry said: “This funding will improve community engagement and give councils an opportunity to do more, with community-led approaches to street clean-ups.
The Great British Spring Clean and the upcoming National High Street Perfect Day are fantastic opportunities for communities to get together in partnership with local businesses and ensure our high streets are places we have even greater pride in.

This is a particularly challenging time for many retailers, confronted by rapidly changing consumer demand and the rise of online spending. Recognising this, the Government has put a plan for the high street at the centre of the Budget and is taking action to ensure local high streets are able to adapt and thrive for generations to come.
Today’s move builds on tough Government action to tackle litter, including doubling the maximum on-the-spot penalty for littering and new powers for councils to crack down on littering from vehicles. The Government has also launched an ambitious ‘Keep it, Bin it’ anti-litter campaign in partnership with environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy, supported by some of the biggest names in retail, travel and entertainment, to make littering culturally unacceptable within a generation.

#CleanupyourCommunity
#RecycleontheGo
#PerfectHighStreets

FREE toolkit for your local #LitterHero this Spring

This month we are giving away 10 Spring Clean tool kits – to nominate your local litter hero, community champion group or eco-school click https://hhenvironmental.co.uk/contact-us enter the details of who you are nominating in the comments box, tick competition entry box and that’s it!

#InItToWinIt– closing date March 29th.

10 winners will be selected at random and announced on April 4th.

Who is your #LitterHero….

#recycleonthego

Helping Hand Environmental were delighted to be asked to be speakers at Resource Efficiency Wales at the CLAIRE Wales Conference 2018 today.

Our colleagues Carly (HH UK Sales Manager) and Stacey (HH Wales Area Sales Manager) presented the benefits of #recycleonthego and discussed how Welsh Local Authorities are diverting valuable waste away from landfill by segregating litter at street level with our innovative Street Boss and Handicart litter collection carts.

For your free …#recycleonthego case study please contact our sales team on 01531 635678 or email sales@helpinghand.co.uk

Catch our #recycleonthego carts in action – https://vimeo.com/helpinghandco

And also via their own dedicated QR sites – www.streetboss.co.uk and www.handicart.co.uk

#recycleonthego #sustainability #streetboss #handicart

Free toolkit for your local #LitterHero

This month we are giving away 10 autumn tool kits – to nominate your local litter hero, community champion group or eco-school click https://hhenvironmental.co.uk/contact-us enter the details of who you are nominating in the comments box, tick competition entry box and that’s it!

#InItToWinIt– closing date November 30th. 10 winners will be selected at random and announced on December 4th.

Who is your #LitterHero….

We Won – Exporter of the Year

#HerefordMeansBusiness – going from strength to strength, this last 12 months has seen an outstanding growth in our Environmental division sales across Europe.

Our team (Anna & Nicole pictured below) help support government bodies, commercial industry and the voluntary sector in managing the rising tide of plastic waste and general litter on our streets, parks, motorways and oceans. Driving change in sustainability policies and behaviour to litter along with engaging educational programmes for primary and secondary school pupils.

New volunteer engagement campaigns in France, Belgium, Holland and Malta to name but a few! And in support of British manufacturing here in Herefordshire #Teamwork #Partnership #MakingaDifference

Such an honour to have our work recognised at this recent Herefordshire Business Award evening and our congratulations to all other award winners and finalists. Well done to #TeamHH for also achieving finalist status in Eco-Friendly Business of the Year  #proud #buyBritish #litterpickers #teamwork

More award information can be found: https://www.herefordshirebusinessawards.co.uk/

#PlasticFreeJuly – Helping Hand Environmental Top Tips

As part of #plasticfreejuly campaign, Helping Hand Environmental been attempting to cut back on unnecessary single use plastics.

So, how do you keep that momentum going? Here are 5 ways to keep the momentum up when it all feels a bit bleak or you are unsure on handle single use plastics:

1 EDUCATION IS KEY

Whilst initiatives such as Plastic Free July are a fab starting point, the momentum can start to diminish as soon as the next monthly challenge takes centre stage.  We read books like ‘No more plastic’ by Martin Dorey and ‘How to Live Plastic Free’ by Marine Conservation Society, we look at heart-breaking photographs and watch programmes like Blue Planet, follow influence bloggers on Twitter. Remind yourself why you are trying to become Plastic Free at home and at work.

2. STATS NEVER LIE

We use 300 MILLION TONNES of plastic each year. Every day, approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans. Less than half of plastic bottles used in the UK are recycled – and over 150 plastic bottles litter each mille of UK beaches. 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and 1 million sea birds are killed by marine plastic pollution annually. It’s estimated that there is now 5.25 trillion macro and micro plastic pieces floating around in the open ocean.

We can all lend a helping hand in the fight against plastics!

3. ORGANISE AN PLASTIC FREE PICK

Getting outside and seeing plastic litter first-hand.  Some fun initiatives include Plogging which combines jogging and picking up litter – you’d be amazed how much rubbish you can collect in half hour! Other amazing examples include #PlasticFreeCoastlines run by Surfers Against Sewage, The Great Plastic Pick Up, run by Keep Britain Tidy and the awesome Martin Dorey’s #2minutebeachclean concept and boards including the NEW #2minutestreetclean and #2minutelitterpick

4. NOT ALL PLASTIC OR BRANDS ARE BAD

A Plastic Planet  say ‘There will always be a need for plastic – medical science, aviation, technology, car industries – where plastic can more easily be reclaimed and kept within a closed recycling loop. Single use, especially for food and drink, is not defensible.’

The real issue is single use plastics – plastic cups, straws, coffee cups, plastic bottles, milk bottles, cutlery etc. Do we need such lazy products in our life and buy using and buying such products we are encouraging and support the use of this throwaway items which just end up in landfills. Lastly it is important we support brands which are making a difference – A Plastic Planet, Iceland, Morrison’s, Simply Cups, Coca-Cola, Costa, Harrogate Spring Water and all doing awesome things!

5. PROMOTE THE GOOD, NUDGE AND INSPIRE

Reduce, reuse, recycle- has been in our lives for decades. Completely eradicating all single-use plastics from your work/home overnight isn’t realistic. Think about where you can reuse it, and move on to recycling as much as humanly possible if all else fails.

More companies are moving towards plant-based ‘plastics’, but for this to be a success in the future, there needs to be more industrial composting sites, and more councils offering food waste collections. As a business Helping Hand Environmental are do our bit, for example we save 850 plastic milk bottles ending up in landfill every year by having reusable glass bottles which are collected, washed and reused again.