Our history

Keep Wales Tidy’s origins can be traced back to the 1950s, when post-war pride in the UK led the way in tackling the ever increasing problem of litter. The Women’s Institutes responded by creating the Keep Britain Tidy group.

Fast forward to 1972, when the Keep Wales Tidy campaign was launched.

It began life as the Welsh Directorate of the Tidy Group until devolution began and in 2005 Keep Wales Tidy became an independent charitable organisation.

Keep Wales Tidy Strategy 2017-2020

Key dates

1987:     Blue Flag Award launched in Wales

1994:     Eco-Schools programme launched in Wales

2002:     Green Flag Award for Parks launched in Wales

2008:     Tidy Towns initiative launched in Wales

2011:     Single use carrier bag charge introduced in Wales

2012:     Keep Wales Tidy celebrates its 40^th anniversary

2015:     Green Key Award launched across Wales

2017:     Long Forest project launched in Wales 

2017:     Spring Clean Cymru campaign launched in Wales

Find out more about our programmes here 

Welsh link