We are very excited to be hosting our first annual event at Illuminet, the Litter Sprint! 

You may or may not have seen some content being shared on social media with ways to sign up and show your support, so we have decided to make this post to answer some of the key questions about the event! 

What is the event? 

1 hour 

100 people 

100 pieces of litter each 

10,000 pieces of litter 

while raising £10,000 to fund the planting of 1,000 trees.  

A lot of numbers, here is what we mean… 

For 1 hour between 10-11am on the 5th April the Litter Sprint will be held across two locations, Basingstoke and Poole. Across both locations we aim to have 100 people joining us on the day. Each of those 100 people will be challenged to collect 100 pieces of litter each within the hour, anything from plastic bags to cigarette butts, it all counts towards a cleaner and greener ecosystem! Totalling 10,000 pieces of Litter in just 1 hour will go a long way to give the wildlife the best chance for a healthy start to life in the beginning of Spring.

The goal is to plant 1,000 trees as a result of the fundraising from the Litter Sprint. Our Partners Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust will plant each tree costing as little as £7, so even the smallest donations do help!  

We set the challenge of everyone to raise £70 each which is enough to fund the planting of 10 trees, even if you can’t attend the day sponsor us as our friends!  

What and who is the event fundraising for? 

The Litter Sprint is raising money for our partners Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust. Tree planting is perhaps what the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust is most well-known for. Since they first started out in 1996 YDMT has helped to plant around 1.5 million broadleaf trees, creating native woodlands of all shapes and sizes throughout the Yorkshire Dales and Nidderdale. It is something that’s very close to our hearts here at Illuminet, as you may have seen in our recent news post our colleagues work closely with YDMT travelling to Yorkshire to be a part of the planting. 

But why trees you may ask… 

• Trees absorb carbon and help to combat climate change 
•  They create new habitats for wildlife and support biodiversity 
•  They create natural spaces where people can relax and enjoy themselves 
•  Trees protect the landscape against flooding and erosion and improve water quality 
•  Trees restore part of our natural landscape that’s been lost due to deforestation.
• The UK has only 13% woodland cover, compared with an EU average of 37% – in the Yorkshire Dales that figure falls to just 4.8%. 

Why should I get involved? 

Helping the environment has never been so important. We are seeing the impact of climate change and pollution on a daily basis in our news these days. It is vital that we all help and act to improve the planet we live on. It can be confusing on how we as individuals can help and it can seem overwhelming. We mustn’t let these feelings prevent us from taking action. 

There are some no brainers in helping the environment that pretty much everyone is agreed on – planting more trees and picking up litter from our countryside and seaside. What we love about these actions are that they are within our ability to do and have an immediate impact.